Telangana's IT Sector Thrives Despite No ITIR

While the BJP-led Govt has not sanctioned any new big project worth its name to Telangana, it had even scrapped an already sanctioned Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR).

But Telangana continues to nurture the IT landscape, and it reached a point where one in every 3 jobs created across India is from Telangana. An ITIR in the capital city would have given an additional zing to Telangana's prevalent fledgling IT ecosystem.

The project, if launched, would have helped in further leveraging the cluster effect of the IT industry, thus attracting new investment into IT, ITES Electronics, and Hardware Manufacturing sectors in the State.

In scrapping the ITIR, the BJP govt center had deprived the State of a growth enabling platform and eased itself out of the obligation to support the project with viability gap funding.

Also, the updated project proposal in December 2013 pegged the Central Government Assistance at Rs 4,863 crore in 2 phases. The Centre had claimed that it had not received any detailed project report for the ITIR from Telangana. Still, the claim was effectively rebutted by the Industries and IT Minister KT Rama Rao. They pointed out that the Government had submitted the required information, the DPR, and had even sent several reminders to the Centre in the last 6 years.

The Centre later conceded that it had received communications regarding ITIR from the Telangana Government. The State also requested the MeitY to consider restoration of the ITIR scheme or provide another scheme to the State in its place.