The Andhra Pradesh cabinet chaired by chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday took an interesting decision – allotting 21.16 acres of land in the prime area of Visakhapatnam to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for just “99 paise”.
The cabinet claimed that the credit to bring the TCS to Visakhapatnam for setting up of its development centre goes to state minister for IT and electronics Nara Lokesh.
The cabinet approved the allotment of 21.16 acres of land to the TCS at just 99 paise, which is in a way giving the land free of cost.
According to the official statement, Lokesh visited Tata House in October last year and made a strong pitch for TCS to set up a large development center in Andhra Pradesh. The company to invest Rs 1370 cr in this unit to create 12,000 jobs.
With continuous follow-ups and discussions between the state government and the TCS, Lokesh ultimately became successful in the land allotment to the TCS.
It is a bold decision to signal to the industry that Andhra Pradesh is serious about attracting IT investments.
Defending its decision, the cabinet pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, too, had taken Tata Motors to Sanand in Gujarat in the past by allotting land to them at 99 paisa. This marked a landmark moment for the auto industry in Gujarat.