IT hubs in district headquarters are a reality now : KTR

HYDERABAD: After successfully transforming Hyderabad into a global city, the Telangana government has now established IT clusters in Tier II and Tier III cities like Warangal, Khammam, and Karimnagar.

IT hubs were successfully operational in these district headquarters, with Nizamabad, Mahbubnagar, Nalgonda, Siddipet, and Adilabad following suit, IT Minister KT Rama Rao announced on Saturday.

IT hubs in two and three-tier cities were being established as part of the state government's 3D mantra, which states "digitize, decarbonize, and decentralize," according to KTR.

The Telangana government had introduced this initiative as part of a major push to expand the state's information technology sector, with a focus on establishing more hubs in Tier II and Tier III towns. 

The state government had proposed establishing IT hubs in district headquarters in 2021 with the goal of creating more than 50,000 jobs in the coming years, and this dream had become a reality within a year.

KTR believes that Tier-II cities had more advantages over metros in terms of job creation for the state's rural youth.

IT hubs in Nizamabad and Mahbubnagar, according to minister KTR, are nearly completed and would be inaugurated soon. This would be followed by the unveiling of the Siddipet IT Hub, which was progressing well, and the completion of the Nalgonda IT Hub in four to six months. He praised the public representatives of the respective districts for their tireless efforts in this regard.

The minister said that efforts were being made to expand the IT sector to all corners of the state in accordance with Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao's vision. He said that Warangal was a testament to the positive steps taken, as it had grown to become the second-largest IT hub in the state, with reputed companies establishing offices there.

KTR said that the state government had created a conducive environment and world-class infrastructure in Hyderabad, attracting global IT companies to establish campuses there. The minister urged the companies' top executives to expand their operations into the state's Tier II towns, where similar infrastructure is being built.

"Talented youth from rural parts of the state are pursuing academics at reputed educational institutions located in Tier-II towns," KTR said, citing the examples of National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Warangal and the Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies (RGUKT) in Basar, Nizamabad. 

Listing out the measures that are being taken to make the young students industry-ready, the Minister said that the students were being exposed to innovation by taking them on a tour of T-HUB, T-Works, WE-Hub, and other similar entities from the innovation ecosystem created by the state government. Besides, he said, efforts were underway to provide the students with apprenticeships in industries for six months.

Top companies were also showing a great interest in establishing their units in Tier II and Tier III cities, in line with the state government's initiatives. Many top IT and ITES firms, such as Cyient and Tech Mahindra, had established their own units and had been operating them successfully for the past few years.

The state government had also left no stone unturned in extending all assistance to companies interested in establishing new units in Tier II and III towns. The state IT department had been working hard to establish more hubs and allow businesses to begin operations with no logistics or other challenges.

There would likely be substantial shifts in Tier II and III towns over the next couple of years as numerous businesses are expected to start operations, promising good employment possibilities for local youth.