Publication:Times Of India Hyderabad; Date:Apr 30, 2006; Section:Times City; Page Number:3

GOING HI-TECH

AP targets Rs 18,000 cr software exports

‘New Companies Setting Up Operations Regularly Has Fuelled Growth’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Hyderabad: Signalling an optimistic outlook, Andhra Pradesh is targeting software exports worth Rs 18,000 crore during the current fiscal 2006-07. For the financial year ending 2005-06, the state registered software exports worth Rs 12,521 crore, a 51% growth, way above the country wide average of 36% per annum.

    Giving details, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) director for Bangalore & Hyderabad B V Naidu said, “The number of companies — both foreign and domestic — that started operations here has been increasing consistently over the past few years. We expect to continue the growth momentum and grow at 45% year-on-year to reach the targeted Rs 18,000 crore by the end of 2006-07. One new company is starting operations every alternate day in the state, which is a good indicator of growth,” he pointed out.

    The national software export figure for fiscal 2006 has also achieved a significant milestone crossing Rs 1,00,809 crore. Andhra Pradesh’s contribution to national software exports is 12.5 per cent

    While 173 new IT companies started operations in Hyderabad, about five new IT parks have been set up with an investment of Rs 845 crore during 2005-06.

    The total projected investment stood at Rs 1,760 crore, of which investment from foreign companies comprised Rs 768 crore while the remaining Rs 147 crore is being invested by Indian firms.

    According to STPI, while 23 companies contributed Rs 100 to Rs 500 crore worth of software exports individually, the state has two firms, which contributed Rs 1,000 crore each. This apart, 20% of the companies are exporting software to the tune of about Rs 10 crore.

    “This clearly indicates that SME’s (small and medium enterprises) will usher in the next big wave of success if they are provided with requisite support,” department of IT&C secretary K Ratna Prabha said.

    Meanwhile, while the number of export units in Vizag stood at 40, generating exports valued at Rs 109 crore, Vijayawada has about 16 export units and registered exports worth Rs 33 crore.

    “The government has sanctioned two more IT special economic zones (SEZ) in Vizag and 14 IT parks and towers in Hyderabad are given SEZ status. Companies like Satyam and Wipro are beefing up operations in Vizag, which only shows the increasing growth momentum. But to reach the number one position in software exports we need to grow more than 100%,” Prabha said.

    Of the total Rs 12,521 crore worth software exports, 61% was exported to USA & Canada, 20% to Europe, 16% to Middle East Asia & Japan and about 3% to the rest of the world. While 68% of the total exports were from IT services, the remaining 32% was contributed by ITeS (information technology enabled services) sector.