To put things in yet another perspective, IT exports in 2014 were Rs.57,258 crore. And from 2022 to 2023, in one year, the increase in IT exports was Rs.57,706 crore.
Hyderabad: IT exports from Telangana increased from Rs.57,258 crore in 2014 to Rs.2,41,275 crore in 2023. This sums up the exponential rise of the IT sector in the State in the nine and a half years that the BRS was in power in the State.
To put things in yet another perspective, IT exports in 2014 were Rs.57,258 crore. And from 2022 to 2023, in one year, the increase in IT exports was Rs.57,706 crore. In just one year, the IT exports exceeded the total IT exports registered in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh over 30 years. Now consider this. IT exports across India for 2022-23 grew at 9.36 per cent whereas Telangana registered a growth of 31.44 per cent the same year.
All this was not achieved in autopilot mode. The BRS government had put in a lot of efforts and framed tailor-made policies that suit the requirements, including workforce, conducive atmosphere and peace and harmony of companies to make their investments or expand their operations. Political stability, efficient leadership and progressive industrial policies of the State government not only preserved the ‘Brand Hyderabad’ but also helped the IT sector flourish on an unprecedented scale, with many dubbing the country’s youngest State as the new California of the East.
More particularly, the role played by the then IT Minister KT Rama Rao in this phenomenal rise of the IT sector in the State was crucial. His acumen in consulting industry giants and convincing them to set up their units or expand existing units in Hyderabad, made other States envy Telangana. There was a time, when a few techies, especially natives of other States, openly praised the former Minister for his commitment and wished they had a Minister of his calibre in their States. The State’s growth was praised by industry giants, including personalities like Apple CEO Tim Cook.
In 2016 itself, five of the world’s most valued technology companies – Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Facebook – had their largest presence outside of their headquarters in Hyderabad. Four of these had set up shop here after the formation of Telangana. More like Qualcomm too are now in that list.
Prior to formation of Telangana in 2014, the total IT employment pan India was 32,90,000 and the total IT employment in united Andhra Pradesh was 3,23,396 contributing a share of 9.83 percent. In the last nine years, the new employment pan India was 21,10,000 and during the same period, the net employment in Telangana was 5,82,319. The share of Telangana in net new employment since 2014 was 27.6 per cent.
Telangana’s share in financial 2023 in PAN India was staggering 44 percent (1,27,594 out of 2,90,000 jobs) compared to the State’s share of 33 per cent recorded in 2022. In 2022, Hyderabad had beaten Bengaluru in terms of job creation in the IT sector. Of the 4.50 lakh jobs were created in India in the IT sector last year, Hyderabad created 1.50 lakh jobs, beating Bengaluru, which created 1.46 lakh jobs, according to NASSCOM.
Similarly, Hyderabad witnessed the highest quantum of office space absorption, around 8.2 million sft, in the country between April and September in 2022, surpassing Bengaluru for the top spot. The office space market in Hyderabad continues to be dominated by the IT and ITeS sector, accounting for around 39 per cent share of the total absorption. In 2022, Hyderabad witnessed a surge in the demand for large office spaces, especially those measuring 1,00,000 sqft or more, according to a report by Knight Frank India.
Some of the marquee investments in Hyderabad were 1) Amazon Data Services India Private Limited’s three Data Centres in Fab City, Pharma City and Chandanvelly with an investment of Rs.20,761 crore; National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) smart data centre with an investment of Rs 500 crore; Salesforce, which had announced investment of Rs.1,119 crore; Goldman Sachs, which selected Hyderabad for its Technology Centre of Excellence’; US-based ‘Fortune 500’ Insurance giant, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) is opening its Global Capability Centre with an investment of Rs.1,000 crore; Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, which set up its first IT Digitisation and Global Capability Centre outside of the US in Hyderabad; Mobile manufacturing major Oppo, which set up its first 5G innovation lab and R&D Center in Nanakramguda.
New policies
The last decade also saw Telangana on the forefront of promoting the use and development of new-age technologies like AI, ML, Drones and Blockchain. It became the first State to launch an actionable policy framework for Artificial Intelligence. The Telangana AI Mission (T-AIM) was formed in partnership with NASSCOM to execute the strategy. It also launched an Electronics Policy, the IMAGE Policy, and the Innovation & Rural Technology Policy to augment the growth in these sectors. The BRS government also launched sector specific policies such as Data Centres Policy, Open Data Policy, Cyber Security Policy, Data Analytics Policy, IoT Policy, and eWaste Policy.
Hyderabad also became home to many companies in the VFX, Gaming and Animation sectors. About 30,000 are gainfully employed in these verticals in the city at various levels. The IMAGE Tower, a state-of-the-art facility for supporting innovation in media, animation, gaming, and entertainment, is being developed in 10 acres at Raidurgam village.
Expansion of T- Hub
After achieving phenomenal success in the establishment of T-Hub, the Telangana government established T-Hub Phase-II in an area spread over three acres. T- Hub 1 was launched on November 5, 2015 at the Triple IT Campus in Gachibowli by Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata and Governor ESL Narasimhan. The then Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao inaugurated T-Hub 2 on June 28, 2022. It is the world’s largest startup incubation centre.
Diversification of IT growth
Not confining the IT growth to Hyderabad, the BRS government also expanded the IT sector to different places within the city and to other districts as well. Apart from sustaining the growth in the western corridor, the State government initiated development of an IT Tower in Kandlakoya, new IT Parks in the Southern region – Airport, Shamshabad and expanded the IT footprint in the Eastern region – Uppal / Pocharam. Six Industrial Parks applied for conversion under GRID Policy into IT Parks.
As part of its strategy to create 50,000 jobs in Tier2 and Tier 3 towns, the State launched eight IT Towers at Warangal, Karimnagar, Khammam, Mahbubnagar, Siddipet, Nizamabad, Suryapet and Nalgonda. More are coming up in Adilabad, Ramagundam and Wanaparthy.
Besides the companies in the IT Towers such as Cyient, Genpact, Global Logic and Technogen etc., multiple other companies also have started their operations in their own/rented facilities across Telangana.
With the change in government, and an overall change in atmosphere, companies like Tech Mahindra are said to be shifting base from Telangana. Though the new government made announcements of investments after the World Economic Forum at Davos, how many of those materialise into final agreements and open shop here remain to be seen. With elections, campaigning and the six guarantees still hogging most of the time for the new dispensation, focus on the IT sector appears to have taken a backseat.