TS Govt asked centre to sanction funds for IT sector

Hyderabad, Aug 14: The Telangana govt has asked the Centre to release funds here on Sunday for Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) as per a commitment made four years ago.

On Sunday, Telangana Minister for Information Technology KT Rama Rao wrote a letter to Union Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad regarding what he said was the inordinate delay in the release of the promised financial assistance for the project sanctioned in 2013 to promote investment in information technology and IT-enabled services and electronic hardware sector.

KTR said the state had submitted the proposal to the Centre in 2010 for creation and development of ITIR over 202 sq. km. The Centre previously sanctioned the project in September 2013.

Subsequently, a Detailed Project Report for ITIR was submitted twice to the central government to seek Rs 4,863 crore for the creation of external physical infrastructure. The Centre has approved support to an extent of Rs 3,275 crore.

He said the growth of IT exports from the state in three years had consistently surpassed the country's average growth rate. For the financial year 2016-17, Telangana's IT exports have grown by 13.85 per cent almost 4 per cent more than the national average.

The Minister urged the Centre to expedite sanction of funds for various infrastructure projects under the ITIR.