VISAKHAPATNAM: Minister for HRD, IT and Electronics Nara Lokesh met Aiman Ezzat, Chief Executive Officer of Capgemini, in Visakhapatnam and discussed potential investment opportunities in the State.
During the meeting on Thursday, Lokesh invited the global technology services firm to consider establishing an IT development centre in Visakhapatnam with the potential to generate around 20,000 jobs.
He also proposed the setting up of a Global Capability Centre (GCC) and service centres for cloud services and business process management (BPM) verticals.
Lokesh said under the leadership of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Visakhapatnam is being developed as a major IT and data centre hub. He noted that a large data centre project by Google is expected to begin soon in the region. Technology firms such as Cognizant and Tata Consultancy Services have already established operations in the city.
He also pointed out that the Bhogapuram International Airport is expected to become operational soon.
Capgemini urged to set up tech labs
Lokesh also suggested that Capgemini partner with universities in the State to set up Emerging Technology Labs focusing on areas such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, cybersecurity and digital talent development. He further invited the company to explore establishing a dedicated quantum technology vertical and support the State’s proposed Quantum Valley initiative.
Responding to the proposals, Ezzat said Capgemini would examine the opportunities presented by the Andhra Pradesh government.
Founded in 1967 and headquartered in Paris, Capgemini with a reported annual revenue of about $23.9 billion, has a global workforce of about 3.4 lakh employees, nearly two lakh of whom are based in India. Multinational company Capgemini currently operates from 13 cities in India, including Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune, Noida, Kolkata, Gurugram and Bhubaneswar.
Sanjay Chacko, CEO of Capgemini India, and Keshav R Murugesh, Global CEO of WNS Global Services, presided over the meeting.