HYDERABAD: Revealing that Telangana’s IT exports witnessed a whopping 31.44 per cent growth during the financial year 2022-23, the highest annual increase since the formation of the State, IT Minister KT Rama Rao attributed the surge to a stable government and effective leadership of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
Rama Rao said that the data was released by Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) and NASSCOM. Speaking during Question Hour in the Assembly on Friday, he said that Telangana was set to become the first State in the country to introduce legislation specifically targeting Cyber Crimes. NALSAR is actively involved in preparing guidelines for this groundbreaking move, he said.
“Telangana’s flourishing IT sector has significantly contributed to job creation, generating around six lakh IT jobs since the formation of the State. Several leading IT companies have established their largest campuses with state-of-the-art facilities in Hyderabad. The city has solidified its position as the top IT job provider in the country, accounting for approximately 44 per cent of the technology-based jobs nationwide,” Rama Rao said.
Preferred IT destination
He reminded that Telangana has emerged as the most preferred IT destination not only in India but globally. “Since the State’s formation, renowned tech giants such as Apple, Amazon, Google, Salesforce, Uber, and many others have invested in Telangana’s IT sector,” he said.
Rama Rao said that when Telangana was formed, approximately 6,23,396 people were directly employed in the IT/ITES sector. Today, that number has risen to 9,05,715. The growth in the IT sector has had a ripple effect, creating four indirect employment opportunities in other sectors for each direct employment generated, he said.
Rama Rao recalled the first IT tower established in Begumpet back in 1987. Over the following 27 years, IT exports from the State reached Rs 56,000 crores. In the last financial year, IT exports soared to over Rs 57,700 crore, achieving the highest annual rise since Telangana’s formation. This progress has also led to a significant increase in land prices, with an acre of land now fetching up to Rs 100 crore in Kokapet, the Minister said.
He pointed out that the growth in Telangana’s IT industry has surpassed the national average during the BRS regime. “Efforts are ongoing to further expand the IT sector in the city, with plans to build an IT tower in Malakpet to foster more employment opportunities for the youth,” Rama Rao said.
Notably, the Minister also raised concerns about the impact of communal forces on the IT industry in other parts of the country, citing incidents of violence in Gurugram and Manipur. He asserted that the State government was committed to maintaining a conducive and thriving environment for the IT sector’s growth.