The Andhra Pradesh government is taking steps to promote Information Technology in the state, Minister for Information Technology and Communications Ponnala Lakshmaiah said today.

Addressing a gathering after laying foundation stone for IT Incubation Tower at Rushikonda IT Park, the minister said the state government had planned to project Tier-II cities as next-generation IT hubs.

The state government is planning IT Incubation Towers in Kakinada, Tirupati Warangal and Kariminagar, as well as one in Visakhapatnam.

In 2003, Andhra Pradesh IT sector had only 334 firms which earned Rs 5,025 crore from exports and employed 50,000 professionals. Today, the exports had touched Rs 53,000 crore, as 1,250 IT firms employed as many as 3.25 lakh persons, he said.

The Minister also said the state government plans to promote Visakhapatnam as electronic hardware hub. The government is creating Electronic Manufacturing Clusters and one such cluster would be opened in Parawada in the district.

Vice-president of the Rushikonda IT Park Association O Naresh Kumar said steps should be taken to ensure uninterrupted power supply to IT companies.

Source : TOI