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Warangal on the growth track

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Priyanka Pugaokar
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Warangal on the growth track

Historically known as the capital of Kakatiya kingdom, Warangal has been the strategic region in India since ancient times. Being part of the newly formed state of Telangana, Warangal is rapidly emerging as the fasted developing tier 2 cities in the country. The 100 Smart Cities and Amrut project have fuelled the IT growth in Warangal and several large companies are keen to explore this highly potential region.

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Pro Industries policy boosting IT growth

IT activities started in Warangal in mid 90’s, however, the factors like lack of infrastructural development and alleged influence of extremist group showed a red signal to the investors. MNCs were reluctant to venture into the market in the initial days due to lack of assurance about business continuity and safety. However, today the scene is different and the law enforcement agencies have given a trust to the industries to come in the region.

Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao led government has taken several pro industry decisions and declared ambitious projects to bring Warangal in the list of top investment hubs in the country. The Information Technology policy has offered additional benefits to woo the investors to invest in tier-II and III cities. At the same time the government has been focusing on infrastructure development and building a strong foundation for the industrial growth. Therefore, several MNC and national brands have started developing their base here.

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The Kakatiya IT park and the incubation tower at Madikonda has been attracting companies in IT/ITeS, Gaming and Animation and are expected to play a significant role in the development of IT field. The Warangal IT Park is connected with Hyderabad National highway and well connected via road, rail and air. Therefore, many software firms are expected to focus their attention towards the district.

Besides, the Central Government has declared the 30 acre land belonging to the APIIC at Madikonda as Special Economic Zone for the development of Information Technology Park in the Telangana Region. The home, SOHO and educational sectors are rapidly developing in Warangal, therefore, companies are keen to invest in these verticals.

Smart Cities and Amrut project to transform Warangal

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Warangal has been selected for the ambitious Smart Cities Project by the central government. The city has been also selected for Amrut project and has been chosen as one of the heritage cities for HRIDAY - Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana scheme. These projects coupled with the policy initiatives by the IT ministry are expected to further fuel the economic and commercial growth of the city. Besides, the state government has set up state of art T-Hub and incubation center to encourage start ups. The government has offered attractive concessions and subsidies to start ups to set up their business in the IT parks.

“Warangal is one of the fasted growing tier 2 cities and we are encouraging the growth of start ups. Kakatiya IT park is committed to offer best in class facilities to start ups and IT firms. Though the contribution in the software export is still very less from this region, but we expect that with industries coming in Warangal, it will also emerge as the prominent IT hub like Hyderabad”, says Kiran Kumar, Officer In-charge, STPL.

 The way ahead

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Ample availability of talent, infrastructural development, proper policies in place and a vision of the state government are some of the positive factors which will lead to rapid growth of Warangal. However, Warangal has to go long a way to gain a distinct identity as an IT hub like Hyderabad.

 Warangal at a Glance

Number of Resellers: 150-200 (Approx)

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Key Verticals: Agriculture, Education,

Key Brands: HP, Lenovo, Dell, Canon, K7 Computing, Kaspersky

Prominent IT Association: Telangana Information Technology Association (TITA)

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 Interview 1

Sundeep Kumar Makthala, President, TITA

 The IT industry has not yet got momentum in Warangal as it has flourished in Hyderabad. What are the reasons for sluggish economic growth in this region?

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Sundeep Kumar Makthala: All the major industrial and commercial activities are concentrated in Hyderabad and that could be the reason for IT MNCs to prefer the state capital as their investment hub. However, now the things have changed to the great extend. Telangana is the youngest state in India and after the formation of the independent state, the state government has taken a lot of policy initiatives to drive the economic growth in various regions. The Kakatiya incubation centre is the step towards attracting investment in the IT field in Warangal. The city has been selected for the 100 Smart Cities project and Amrut project and I think that these projects will escalate the economic and infrastructure growth of Warangal in near future.

How will these projects facilitate economic and commercial growth of Warangal?

Sundeep Kumar Makthala: There are many reasons for investment in Warangal. Today the city offers space availability at affordable rates, it comes under non seismic zone and there has been no major natural calamity here in last 100 years. We have best in class infrastructure and skilled manpower. These are the few very important reasons to make MNCs think about Warangal seriously. The projects like Smart Cities will certainly bring big industries here and facilitate economic growth. We expect major things happening in the IT sector in Warangal in next 4-5 years.

 How TITA’s ambitious DIGITHON mission is building a base for IT industry in Warangal?

Sundeep Kumar Makthala: TITA has been leading the DIGITHON mission with an aim of 100 percent digital literacy in Telangana. We have recently adopted Basar village to make it 100 percent digitally literate. We conduct workshops for students in association with education institutes, local authorities and start ups. It companies require digitally literate and skilled manpower and we believe that this initiative will build a strong foundation for ITians in the state.

 

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