The Central Government is likely to give its nod to nine IT-related projects of the Andhra Pradesh Government, involving a total investment of Rs 2,500 crore, on a cost-sharing basis.

“This is the indication I got when I met the IT Minister for discussions on these projects. I am quite hopeful that the Centre will approve these projects,” Mr Ponnala Lakshmaiah, State Minister of IT and Communication, said, while launching a brochure titled ‘Advantage AP 2011.'

IT Summit

The brochure was launched in connection with the two-day international event, ‘Advantage AP - Annual IT Summit 2011,' jointly organised by the State Government, IT & ITES Industry Association of Andhra Pradesh and Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) in Hyderabad, from March 1 .

E-panchayat, treasury projects

The nine projects relate to the State Government's administrative machinery such as e-panchayats and treasury.

The Centre is likely to contribute 80 per cent of the investment, while the State Government will bring in the remaining amount.

Mr Lakshmaiah said that other countries were keen on seeking the assistance of the Andhra Pradesh Government in implementation of e-seva and other IT-related Government schemes.

“The Sri Lankan Government has contacted us for extending e-seva and other IT-related services. We will be concluding an agreement with Mauritius on IT technology transfer. Poland, which already signed an MoU with us, is going to revive it. This shows that AP is attracting world attention in the IT sector,” the Minister said.

Promoting tier-II cities

On the two-day IT event in March, Ms K. Ratna Prabha, State Principal Secretary, IT and Communications, said that the three objectives of the event were to market ‘Brand AP' as the preferred IT destination, promote tier-II and III cities, and to promote SMEs and start-up companies.

“We are focussing on tier-II cities. For instance, we are setting up IT towers in cities such as Warangal, Tirupathi, Visakhapatnam and Kakinada,” she said.

The event, in which foreign companies will also participate, will have conferences and exhibitions to showcase the progress made by AP in this sector.

Road shows

“We will be holding road shows for the event in cities such as Mumbai and Bangalore in the next few weeks,” she said.

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