A 99 paise masterstroke sets the stage for Andhra’s IT boom: Nara Lokesh Locks in TCS for Less Than the Price of Tea!

Amaravati: In a revolutionary move, the Andhra Pradesh Government has sold 21.16 acres of land in Visakhapatnam to the IT giant TCS at a token rate of just 99 paise. This is a strategic step by the NDA government led by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu in Andhra Pradesh toward fulfilling the election promise of generating 20 lakh jobs in five years. As part of this, Minister Nara Lokesh is making significant progress, particularly in the IT and Electronics sectors, aiming to generate 500,000 jobs.

In October last year, Minister Lokesh visited the TCS House in Mumbai and appealed to Tata Group Chairman N. Chandrasekaran to set up a development center in Andhra Pradesh. Following continuous negotiations with TCS representatives, the efforts have paid off. TCS is set to invest Rs.1,370 crore in a development center in Visakhapatnam, which is expected to create 12,000 IT jobs for the youth. This is a strong indication of the state government’s serious focus on IT investments.

TCS is poised to become the game changer in Minister Lokesh’s mission to transform Visakhapatnam into a thriving IT hub. He is methodically advancing plans to attract IT investments to Andhra Pradesh. Several major firms are already making preparations to set up data centers in Visakhapatnam. Companies that had previously left the state due to negligence by the previous government are now gradually returning. As the Chairman of the State Employment Generation Sub-Committee, Minister Lokesh’s initiatives are bearing fruit. In the past 10 months alone, industries have committed investments worth 8 lakh crore rupees and pledged to create more than 500,000 jobs.

Taking a leaf from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s playbook during his days as Chief Minister of Gujarat, when he offered land to Tata Motors in Sanand for just 99 paise, setting the wheels in motion for Gujarat’s automobile revolution; Andhra Pradesh now echoes that bold vision. 

For the past five years, the IT sector in the state had been in decline. Now, Minister Lokesh has taken decisive action to revive it. He introduced new IT and Electronics policies based on an investor-friendly approach. With some of the most attractive incentives in the country, Andhra Pradesh announced its 2024–29 strategies:

Andhra Pradesh Electronics Manufacturing Policy

Andhra Pradesh Semiconductor & Display Fab Policy

Andhra Pradesh Information Technology & Global Capability Centers Policy

Andhra Pradesh Data Center Policy

From October 25, Minister Lokesh embarked on a week-long tour of the United States. He conducted roadshows in key cities like Silicon Valley, Seattle, and New York, and held discussions with senior executives of global tech firms about investment opportunities in Andhra Pradesh. He met representatives of over 100 leading companies including Tesla, Google, Apple, Adobe, Microsoft, FalconX, Salesforce, and Zscaler, and explained the state’s favorable ecosystem for setting up operations.

With the goal of creating 500,000 jobs in the IT and Electronics sectors over the next five years, Andhra Pradesh is moving forward with a well-planned and visionary approach.