\"AP performed poorly in software exports,\" GVL quotes reply in Rajya Sabha

Visakhapatnam: Andhra Pradesh performed poorly in export of IT software during the last financial year, Union minister of state for electronics and Information Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, stated in Parliament on Friday. He stated this in reply to a question from Rajya Sabha member GVL Narasimha Rao.

The minister said software exports from India exceed Rs 11.59 lakh crore, of which AP accounted for only Rs 1,290 crore.

The MP alleged that Andhra Pradesh's pitiable performance was due to the neglect and apathy of the YSRC government.

The minister said the value of software exported from India in 2021-22 was Rs 11.89 lakh crore. This included exports from Indian Information Technology and Business Process Management (IT/ BPM) sectors.

Units registered under Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) accounted for Rs 6.29 lakh crore worth of exports and units registered under SEZ accounted for the balance RS 5.3 lakh crore.

The states with the highest software exports were Karnataka (Rs 96 lakh crore), Maharashtra (RS 2.37 lakh crore) and Telangana (Rs 1.81 lakh crore).

In comparison, Andhra Pradesh accounted for IT exports of only Rs 1,256 crore, which was 0.1 per cent of the total value of exports from India.

Visakhapatnam city with a large number of prestigious universities and technical institutions contributed to IT/ITes exports of Rs 776 crore.

Narasimha Rao said the YSRC government has neglected the IT sector in Andhra Pradesh. “It is shocking that AP, leading the country and the world in providing capable IT manpower, is completely absent from the IT sector. I would continue to seek active support of the central government for the growth of the IT sector in AP,” he said.