Hyderabad :
With the sun finally setting on the longdrawn T-uncertainty, Brand Hyderabad is set to shine once more and brighter at that.
Industry experts feel that the decision to divide Andhra Pradesh will put Hyderabad firmly back in the saddle as a global IT/ITeS hub, as it was primarily the political uncertainty that had helped Bangalore and Chennai cash in on Hyderabad’s T-woes in the past four years rather than any actual limitations of Hyderabad.
The overwhelming feeling is that the division will finally lure back investors, who were having second thoughts and Hyderabad, which has always been the crown jewel of Andhra Pradesh (accounting as it does for 55% of the state’s total Rs 70,000 crore revenue on the back of the IT/ ITeS sector), will continue to dazzle as a services hub.
The city is home to over 1,300 global IT& ITeS players and accounts for over 90% of the state’s Rs 40,000 crore plus IT/ITeS exports with nearly five lakh jobs.
What has worked for Hyderabad is its excellent infrastructure – be it roads like the outer ring road, or IT parks and SEZs.
The Hitec City-Gachibowli-Manikonda area already boasts of the who’s who of the global IT arena with players like Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Infosys, Wipro, Yahoo!, HSBC , Dell, Amazon, among others and none of them will be going anywhere. Once the uncertainty is resolved, they may actually kick off those expansions that many of them had put on hold.
“It will mark the end of tough times for Hyderabad. The city will bounce back, its image stronger and the IT sector too will stage a comeback. After all, Hyderabad’s infrastructure is streets ahead of other cities like Chennai and Bangalore,” says BVR Mohan Reddy, chairman and promoter of homegrown IT giant Infotech Enterprises, pointing out how it takes over two hours to go from one place to other in Bangalore while in Hyderabad the ride from the airport to the city takes just about 45 minutes.
“The secret of Hyderabad’s success has been its superior infrastructure and talent availability. It has good roads, academic institutions, manpower pool, power etc to ensure its continued success as an IT/ITeS hub,” pointed out a top IT honcho.
In the peak of the T-agitation in 2009-10, Nasscom president Som Mittal too had said Hyderabad had nothing to be worried about because as long as it has talent in abundance the industry is here to stay.
IT/ITeS apart, the recent decision of the state government to lift the ban on the expansion of pharma units in and around the city vide a GO too will ensure that the pharma sector, which had started charting expansion plans in coastal Andhra destinations like Vizag, will continue to thrive in the Telangana region.
However, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories chairman GV Prasad feels that despite the recent GO, it may be a tad difficult for players to continue driving major expansions in Hyderabad due to its urban nature.
source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Hyderabad> Andhra Pradesh / by Swati Bharadwaj, TNN / July 31st, 2013