TS IT Exports Record Largest-Ever Growth

HYDERABAD: Continuing its stellar show in the IT segment, Telangana recorded a nation-topping growth of 31.4 per cent in IT exports for 2022-23, significantly above the country’s total, at 9.36 per cent.

IT exports from Telangana touched Rs 2,41,275 crore, up from Rs 1.83 lakh-crore recorded last year. The Rs 57,706-crore increase is the single-largest in a financial year, IT minister K.T. Rama Rao said.

In terms of employment, Telangana saw a net addition of 1.27 lakh jobs, accounting for 44 per cent of the country’s total of 2.9 lakh jobs. The job addition took the cumulative number of people working in the sector to 9.05 lakh, which was a 16.2 per cent growth over last year’s figure of 7.8 lakh.

In the previous year, Telangana had accounted for 33 per cent of all IT jobs created in India, Rama Rao said. “These figures highlight Telangana's significant role in driving employment growth and establishing itself as a prominent player in the Indian IT landscape,” he said.

“We achieved these milestones despite no real support from the Centre. An Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) sanctioned by the UPA government was cancelled by the current government. We achieved the growth despite Covid-19, global slowdown and recession,” he said, while releasing the ninth annual report of the department of IT, electronics and communications on Monday.

“Telangana has not only maintained its growth rate but surpassed the national average, solidifying its position as a leading destination for innovation and investment. Telangana's remarkable achievements in terms of growth since its formation are exemplified by the staggering numbers, showcasing the state's exponential rise in the IT/ITeS sector,” Rama Rao said.

He said that IT exports stood at Rs 57,258 crore when the state was created. This year, coincidentally, IT exports had grown by a similar amount. “In other words, IT exports increase in 2022-23 has exceeded the IT exports that united AP grew over a period of almost 30 years,” he said.

Rama Rao said that IT employment in the state rose from 3.23 lakh in 2014 to 9.05 lakh, with 5.82 lakh new direct IT jobs created since Telangana was carved out, Rama Rao said. The state’s IT employment has almost tripled and each direct job results in over three indirect jobs in the sector.

“With its continuous growth and momentum, Telangana is projected to achieve the goal of Rs 3 lakh-crore IT exports and generating 10 lakh IT jobs two years ahead of schedule,” Rama Rao said.

Warangal has emerged as an alternative IT hub, attracting prominent, while at Mahbubnagar, Khammam, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Siddipet and Nalgonda districts, 13,000 people are employed and an addition of 2,500 jobs to be announced shortly, Rama Rao said.

T-Fiber has achieved end-to-end service-ready connections to 12 districts and four more districts will be service-ready by the end of June. “The network is ready for launch of services like high-speed internet to households, government institutes and private enterprises, and IPTV to households,” he said.

IT principal secretary Jayesh Ranjan, chief relations officer Amarnath Reddy Atmakuri, Nasscom director Srikanth Srinivasan, VSEZ deputy development commissioner Srinivasu Kaligotla and STPI joint director Bharath Kumar were present at the report launch.