Lokesh’s 99 Paise Per Acre Transforming AP’s IT Space!

IT Minister Nara Lokesh is living up to his promise of making Vishakapatnam a Popular IT Destination.

Indian IT Industry is undergoing a crunch because of the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and also, the impending Recession.

The IT Companies are downsizing their operations, and we are also seeing the giants reporting layoffs.

As part of their cost-cutting measures, IT Companies are looking to relocate to Tier-2 cities, where the talent pool is available at relatively better wages.

At this juncture, Nara Lokesh has come up with an interesting idea to attract IT companies to Vishakapatnam.

Andhra Pradesh is offering land to these companies for just 99 Paise per acre.

A few days ago, TCS got 21.6 acres of land on Hill number three of Rushikonda on a 99-year lease.

TCS will invest 1,370 crores in this facility and will be creating 12,000 new jobs.

And now, the Cabinet has cleared the file allotting 22.19 acres at the cost of 99 Paise per acre on a 99-year lease.

Cognizant will provide employment opportunities to 8,000 people with an investment of Rs. 1582.98 crore.

It is interesting to note that Cognizant has its 13.68-acre prime property at Okkiyam Thoraipakkam in Chennai for 612 crores.

The Thoraipakkam complex has been Cognizant’s India headquarters for more than 20 years. It was also the company’s first fully owned campus in Chennai.

Lokesh sensed an opportunity here and pitched the idea of 99 Paise per Acre land in Vizag, which will perfectly fit Cognizant’s Down-Sizing Policy.

It was a win-win situation for the company and Andhra Pradesh.

And now, we have to think of how YSR Congress criticized the land allotment back when TCS was given the land.

The party is now caught on the back foot. The people of Vishakapatnam always stood by the TDP.

Even when Jagan wave gripped the state in 2019, and even when Jagan promised the Executive Capital, the people always favored the TDP. And now that is paying off.