The AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu seems to be very keen on replicating his signature cyber towers of Hi-tech City dream in Andhra Pradesh too. Towards this end, the government is planning to come up with three such towers in Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, and Anantapur.
The idea to have one such similar type of towering IT structure in Mangalagiri was dropped at the last minute as the capital city region will have other iconic buildings. The Millennium towers will be the biggest of all of them coming with a built-up area of five lakh sq ft in Madhurawada in Vizag.
These new towers are in addition to the already planned Signature Towers by the government in the port city and in this regard the state has already released Rs 80 crore for the Vizag towers. “Tenders will be called for the Millennium Towers later this month. We have released Rs 80 crore for the Vizag towers while works on one of the two towers in Rayalaseema will be kickstarted soon,” said G S Phani Kishore, special secretary, IT.
The Andhra Pradesh Industries Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) has been tasked with building all the three towers. While the site for the tower at Anantapur is yet to be finalised, the Tirupati tower will come up near Renigunta airport with a built-up area of one lakh sft. Names like Balaji (for Tirupati tower) and Krishnadevaraya (for Anantapur) are doing the rounds.
With Mangalagiri losing out in the race, the IT department has sought 500 acres from CRDA to develop IT sector in the capital city region. McKinsey & Company will be the strategic consultant for development of IT sector in the capital city area.
The state presently needs 30 Lakhs feet space for the IT companies to do the business. A senior official has told that they are presently providing 8 lakh sft area. He also said that the emphasis is given to Vizag as it is the largest city in the state with a turnover of 1,500 crores through IT and a growth rate of 20%.
“This turnover is nothing in comparison to Hyderabad. Apart from cyber towers, Hyderabad’s stock had gone up thanks to international airport and other infrastructure. The government must replicate them in Vizag, Tirupati and Anantapur also so as to invite investments,” said K Shankar, who owns an IT firm in Vijayawada.