Forget Karnataka, come to AP, Lokesh invites Nasscom

Vijayawada: Taking advantage of the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) expressing its unhappiness over the Karnataka bill which aims to reserve jobs for locals in the private sector, IT Minister Nara Lokesh wrote to Nasscom saying that he understands their disappointment and assured them of best in class facilities if they decide to move their business to Andhra Pradesh.

Taking to ‘X’ handle, Lokesh said, "Dear @NASSCOM members, we understand your disappointment. We welcome you to expand or relocate your businesses to our IT, IT services, AI and data center cluster at Vizag." "We will offer you best-in-class facilities, uninterrupted power, infrastructure and the most suitable skilled talent for your IT enterprise with no restrictions from the Government," he added. The Karnataka government, earlier in the day, approved a bill proposing 100% reservation for Kannadigas, or local residents, in C and D grade positions within private industries.

Later, it kept it on hold after backlash from business honchos and tech tycoons.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah posted this decision of the cabinet on his social media handles but later removed it following protest from the IT firms.

Feeling that this decision of the Karnataka Government would hamper the growth of the industry and impact jobs and global brand of the state, Nasscom has sought an urgent meeting or industry representatives with the government authorities to prevent the progress of the state from getting derailed.

It now remains to be seen how Nasscom would react to the offer made by Andhra Pradesh even after the Karnataka government went on the backfoot.