Vizag will be developed as IT hub: M Goutham Reddy

Visakhapatnam: Minister for IT, Industries M Goutham Reddy on Saturday announced that 75 per cent of the jobs in the industry would be reserved for local youths. Speaking to reporters at SEZ, Atchutapuram after visiting Brandix India Apparel City's (BIAC) plant, the Minister said the main idea of the government was to provide employment on a large scale to the unemployed youth.

However, he added, the local youth should be upskilled first to meet the industrial requirements. Textile, industry, food processing, garment units, MSME units which provides large employment to locals would be encouraged on a large scale, he assured.

"Visakhapatnam will be developed as a major IT hub as it has a potential to provide a large-scale employment with low investment in the State. IT industries will be encouraged to be grounded so as to make the city into an IT hub as Visakhapatnam is endowed with all the infrastructure, in terms of both manpower and physical, for getting recognition as world-class IT hub," Goutham Reddy stated.

Similarly, he said, the youth would be given exposure through incubation centres so as to promote startup companies for which three types of incubation centres would be set up with an outlay of Rs.50 crore. He said integrated cluster development would be given a top priority thereby allied units would also be promoted equally in the same area.

The BIAC was established during the erstwhile Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy with the aim to provide 60,000 jobs, the Minister recalled. "However, the firm has so far provided 25,000 jobs only. In the next year or two, the infrastructure support would be provided to Brandix so as to employ another 25,000 more employees," he stated.

The Minister said that the incentives to be payable to industries has remained pending for the past five years which led to the closure of several companies. "Our government will pay these incentives in a phased manner and work towards reopening of the closed units. This way, we want to open the doors for more employment to the people in the State," he said.

The plant tour was accompanied by BIAC India partner Dorai Swamy.