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Andhra to capture 30 percent of IT opportunities
Tuesday, 14 September 2004, 19:30 IST
HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh plans to develop a massive infrastructure base and train two million professionals to capture 30 percent of opportunities in the IT and services sectors by 2009.
The state government has drawn up ambitious plans to develop 30 million square feet of office space and to train professionals to enable it to achieve this target.
In an effort to allay the apprehensions of the IT industry, the state's Congress government Monday asserted it would be aggressive in ensuring that Andhra Pradesh regained its third position in the IT sector that it enjoyed in 1995.
Andhra Pradesh will also announce a new IT policy in October and the government has set up three think tanks on IT, ITES and hardware. The panels comprise officials, representatives of industry and educationists.
J.C. Mohanty, principal secretary for IT, hinted that there would be only small modifications to the IT old framed by the previous Chandrababu Naidu government. He said efforts would be made to encourage new and small entrepreneurs and to address the issue of data security.
With IT exports of 
50.25 billion during 2003-04, Andhra Pradesh ranked fifth among the states. Its share was seven percent in IT and 16 percent in IT-enabled services (ITES).
Software exports from India during the last fiscal were worth $12 billion and the target for 2009 is $50 billion.
Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, whose emphasis on agriculture had created apprehension in the IT industry that he would neglect the sector, reviewed the IT industry's performance with top officials and felt the state should climb back up to the third position.
Mohanty told newsmen the state currently had world-class office space of four million square feet and this would be doubled in the next year.
While creating physical infrastructure was not a big deal, the state would have to focus on quality human capital, he said. The state currently has 90,000 people employed in the IT and ITES sectors and plans to add 60,000 people every year.
Mohanty said a major constraint faced by the state was that people employed in the ITES sector did not have good English communication skills.
The government and industry would come together to train them to improve their skills. The IT industry will have an accreditation programme for institutes teaching English communication skills and be involved in the certification of students.
Since the IT industry was not satisfied with the subject skills of new computer graduates, the government and industry would launch a one-year training programme to improve their skills.
They would also frame a programme to recast the curriculum of universities to bring it in tune with the industry's requirements. The council for higher education will call a meeting of vice-chancellors of all universities and industry will work out changes required in the curriculum to meet its requirements.
Source: IANS
50.25 billion during 2003-04, Andhra Pradesh ranked fifth among the states. Its share was seven percent in IT and 16 percent in IT-enabled services (ITES).
Software exports from India during the last fiscal were worth $12 billion and the target for 2009 is $50 billion.
Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, whose emphasis on agriculture had created apprehension in the IT industry that he would neglect the sector, reviewed the IT industry's performance with top officials and felt the state should climb back up to the third position.
Mohanty told newsmen the state currently had world-class office space of four million square feet and this would be doubled in the next year.
While creating physical infrastructure was not a big deal, the state would have to focus on quality human capital, he said. The state currently has 90,000 people employed in the IT and ITES sectors and plans to add 60,000 people every year.
Mohanty said a major constraint faced by the state was that people employed in the ITES sector did not have good English communication skills.
The government and industry would come together to train them to improve their skills. The IT industry will have an accreditation programme for institutes teaching English communication skills and be involved in the certification of students.
Since the IT industry was not satisfied with the subject skills of new computer graduates, the government and industry would launch a one-year training programme to improve their skills.
They would also frame a programme to recast the curriculum of universities to bring it in tune with the industry's requirements. The council for higher education will call a meeting of vice-chancellors of all universities and industry will work out changes required in the curriculum to meet its requirements.
Source: IANS