Information&Technology in Bangaru Telangana

Information Technology is recognized as a tool for making the life of common man more easy, convenient and hassle free. The ITE & C Department plays a crucial role in (i) Policy formulation in IT sector (ii) Conceptualizing and initiating various e-governance initiatives (iii) Stipulating standards for compliance (iv) Promoting investments in IT, IT Enabled Services, Animation, Gaming & Digital Entertainment sector through proactive measures (v) Creating congenial environment for IT Companies to set up their operations in the State (vi) Monitor the benefit of IT percolates to the last mile of the State and (vii) Providing a strong communication backbone in the State.

The Government aspires to transform the State into a knowledge society and make available the benefits of Information Technology to all citizens, especially those in rural areas and living in poverty. The State wishes to become a leading destination for investments in Information & Communications Technology (ICT) and a major player in the information economy

1.IT Promotion activities

The performance of IT Industry in the State as reported by STPI and SEZ for the financial year 2014-2015 is as follows:-

S.No.	Description	STPI	SEZ/Non STPI	Total
1	Exports (in crores)	39,186	29,072	68,258
2	Employment(cumulative)	-	-	3,71,774
3	New units registered	14	75	89
4	Total no.of IT units	-	-	1300

Telangana is home to major MNCs and Fortune 500 companies like Microsoft, Google, IBM, Oracle, DELL, Motorola, Deloitte, Converges, UBS, Computer Associates, Amazon, AMD, NVidia, Capgemini, Computer Science Corporation, Bank of America, Hitachi, HSBC, Honeywell, Siemens, JP Morgan, United Health Group, Face Book etc., besides Indian IT majors like Infosys, Wipro, TCS, Polaris, Tech Mahindra, Client, HCL, Cognizant, etc. Most of these IT majors have established their operations in the State of Telangana.

Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR), Hyderabad:-

• The government of India has cleared Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR), Hyderabad. As per the DPR, the benefits of ITIR is as follows:
• Direct Revenues – Rs.310,849 crores
• IT Investment potential – Rs.219,440 crores
• IT Exports – Rs.235,000 crores
• Direct employment – nearly 15 lakhs
• Indirect employment – nearly 53 lakhs
• Increase in tax revenue to State – Rs.30,170 crores

Electronic Manufacturing Clusters (EMCs):-
As per the GoI Policy resolution to augment electronics manufacture growth, two Electronic Manufacturing Clusters (EMCs) i.e. City (Ac.602), Maheshwaram(Ac 310) in Hyderabad (Telangana) have been proposed which will have employment potential of 2.5 lakhs (direct - 40,000 + indirect - 2.10 lakhs).

New ICT Policy:-
The first Information & Communications Technology (ICT) Policy for promoting the Information Technology (IT) sector in the State of Telangana will be announced shortly. The objective of the policy is to facilitate and ensure the growth of the IT sector and employment generation, thereby augmenting the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) and also leading to the overall socio-economic development of the State.

Today, Telangana has become one of premier destinations for ICT Industry in the country and the region is recognized as a global ICT hub. The IT industry has grown tremendously achieving an annual export turnover of Rs. 68,258 crores.

The Industry has witnessed a major transformation from application development to several segments and has achieved specialization across many areas. Some of the key segments which have driven the growth within the region to develop the existing industry are:

• Domestic technology services companies
• Global In-house Centers (GIC) of leading companies
• Process and operations oriented companies
• R&D and Technology companies

This growth has been made possible due to proactive initiatives were taken by the Government in terms of creation of state-of-the-art physical infrastructure, provision of basic amenities such as roads, water, sewerage and power to the doorsteps of IT Layouts, availability of large English speaking and technical talent pool, lower cost of operation and innovative e-Governance programs. IT/ITES sector has had an unparalleled impact on the economy of the State. This has also had a cascading effect on total employment, higher education, sustainable exports, and incremental GSDP growth.

However, the growth of ICT sector in Telangana has been adversely affected in recent times by the worldwide recessionary trends. Focus on emerging markets, taking newer opportunities in the international and domestic sector, innovation and entrepreneurship are now being perceived as key growth engines to get over the global slowdown. The new policy reflects these new focus areas and also incorporates lessons learned from the market.

The State Government held consultation with various verticals of ICT Sector – IT, ITES, Animation, Gaming & Digital Entertainment, Communications, SMEs, IT-HR, IT-Infrastructure providers, and extensively deliberated on mapping the upcoming ICT Policy with Industry Associations, such as, Hosea, National Association of Software and Service Companies NASSCOM, CII, AMCHAM, TiE, and Indian School of Business (ISB), STPI, SEZ, etc., The upcoming ICT Policy is an outcome of these deliberations.

Vision of Government of Telangana:
The objective of the ICT Policy is to make “Telangana the most preferred technology investment destination in the country”
The State seeks to achieve this aim through:-

• provision of congenial industrial friendly climate for IT companies to locate, grow and sustain their operations most competitively in a hassle-free environment in the State,
• creation of new skill development initiatives and employment opportunities for the educated youth of all sections of the Society across all regions,
• achieving higher levels of export turnover resulting in enhanced productivity, and augmentation of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP),
• encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship within the State,
• Spread IT to Tier 2 locations in the State, such as Karimnagar, Warangal, Mahaboobnagar.
• Leverage Information Technology as a tool for the socio-economic development of the region.

Objectives and Targets:

1. The ICT market size and growth in ICT exports, up to 2020, are expected to grow to the following levels:
2. The Global Sourcing Market will triple in size from USD 500 billion today to USD 1.5-1.6 trillion in 2020. (Rs.75,00,000 Cr.)
3. The exports component of the Indian industry is expected to expand three-fold and reach USD 175 billion in revenues by 2020. The large portion of the growth is expected to come from new technology segments.
4. The domestic market for IT Services will grow to USD 50 billion. Focused initiatives can drive an additional USD 15 billion in revenues by 2020.

Animation & Gaming Policy:-
The first Animation & Gaming Policy for promoting the Animation and Gaming sector in the State of Telangana will be announced shortly.
Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) is a sunrise sector with low awareness. While Film, Content & Digital has found its initial grounding in the state of Telangana. It is a healthy medium of education and entertainment.

It is the only Industry truly one of its kinds where the traditional forms of Creative arts can be displayed as-is into the digitized form whereby it gets global exposure. As per the existing trends, India’s AVGC market share is estimated to grow to $1.5 billion, which is less than 2% of the global market. Thus, India has a tremendous scope to increase her share of this market.

The animation and gaming industry has shown resilience in the face of the current economic downturn. India is now seen as a leading destination for high-end, skill based activities. The Indian animation industry is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 22% and gaming industry is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 49% by 2015(Source NASSCOM). Over the years, the Animation, Gaming VFX, Film Content development –AVCG industry has seen the entry of many global majors who have tapped into India's talent pool for offshore delivery of services.

The Global Gaming Industry includes manufacturers of Gaming Hardware and developers of Gaming Software. The video game industry is cyclical in nature and the installed base of the next generation of hardware platforms has an effect on the demand for gaming software. The global animation and gaming market is expected to grow from $122.20 billion in 2010 to $242.93 billion by 2016. This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.94% from 2011 to 2016.

Telangana has always been a leading state in tourism growth. It has all the basic components of artist base to become Film, Content, Digital & AVGC hub, having a rich and diverse heritage of art and culture and the strong presence of Information Technology and Entertainment Industry.

Realizing these aspects, Telangana Government has identified the emerging need to support this industry for facilitating the growth.

The following are the objectives of Telangana Gaming, Animation, Media & Entertainment Policy:

1. Make Hyderabad the most favored destination for investment in Gaming and Animation areas.
2. Encourage and support appropriate manpower development, infrastructure development and business development.
3. Spread awareness and provide multifaceted employment for people in the Gaming and Animation areas.
4. Bridge the demand and supply gap of human resources in Gaming and Animation sector.
5. Attract top global companies in the field of Gaming and Animation to Telangana
6. Capture a larger share of outsourced international Gaming and Animation, work for Telangana
7. Facilitate a legal framework for ‘IP’ creation and its protection.
8. Promote growth of indigenous ‘digital content’ education and entertainment for the masses.
9. Set up a “CENTER OF EXCELLENCE” i.e., Telangana Animation and Gaming City, with state-of-the-art facilities to act as a catalyst for the Gaming and Animation sector.
10. Set up multiple Gaming and Animation Parks

Animation, Gaming, Entertainment & Allied industries are the emerging verticals in the ICT sector. Globally, these verticals have been in focus in the recent past and are believed to have a significant share in the ICT and Entertainment Industry in the future. The sector has huge potential to generate employment and surge ICT exports resulting in the socio-economic development of the country.

Existence of animation and gaming industry in the state: International players like Disney Interactive, Sony game, Xbox, Electronic Arts etc. and domestic players like Walt Disney, Tata Elxsi, Prime Focus, Rythm & Hues, Prasad EXF, DQ entertainment, 7Seas Entertainment, Green Gold, Makuta, Fire Fly, etc are present in the State.

Electronic Hardware Policy:-
The Government will shortly announce the first Electronic Hardware Policy to promote the Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) in the State of Telangana. The overall objective of the policy is to facilitate the growth of the Electronics manufacturing sector and ensure employment generation through it, thereby augmenting the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) and also leading to the overall socio-economic development of the State.

The Vision of the Government as envisaged in the upcoming Electronic Hardware Policy is “to develop Electronics Industry as an important Growth Engine for Telangana through effective use of the talent pool, skill enhancement, promotion of innovation & future technologies and creation of excellent infrastructure”.

IMAGE Incubation Centre:-
Gaming & Animation Sector has a potential of over US $42 Billion worldwide and about $ 1 Billion in India. Hyderabad region has been identified as one of the potential places for the growth of Gaming and Animation industry due to the presence of a vibrant industry and talented IT professional workforce. Hyderabad has a number of Gaming & Animation companies working actively and the region has the potential to grow if right kind of infrastructure is made available.

Keeping in view the potential of this sector, STPI, in association with Govt. of Telangana has developed a state of the art incubation facility “IMAGE” at STPI complex, 2nd floor, Solitaire Building at Madhapur, Hyderabad. This Incubation facility is specially designed to support the SMEs working in Gaming, Animation, Multimedia, and Entertainment industry.

The facility has a 72 seater open office for Tiny units and 6 independent small offices with 20 to 30 workstations each, together making a 232 seater facility including 23 manager cabins, and additional 9 discussion rooms, one common conference hall with Video conference facility and a Preview Theatre for the common use of the Inmates.

This Incubation has a secured network with a Datacenter within the premise to facilitate collocation of servers and hosting common software / tools required for the Animation and Gaming units and with provision of adequate bandwidth with redundancy built-in at all levels, making this a unique Incubation of its kind in the country with all facilities under one roof.

Common Facilities:

• Central air-conditioned space with plug & play facility
• 24X7 manned Network Operations Centre(NOC) & Hi-speed Internet connectivity
• Data Centre, CCTV Cameras, Access control system, PA system, UPS with DG Backup
• State-of-art of Preview theater
• Conference Hall, discussion rooms
• Video Conference facility
• Cafeteria

Promotion of Tier-II/III locations:
Warangal town has identified as Tier-II IT Hub in order to provide built to suit office facilities to IT companies to start their operations in plug & play mode for 15,000 sq.ft through TSIIC which is under construction with an aim to provide gainful employment and also to improve the socio-economic scenario.

2.State Wide area Network(SWAN)
G-G SWAN covering SHQ with DHQs and MHQs is implemented in place of Broadband Network with DIT, Government of India funding. DIT has approved the project at an estimated cost of Rs.249.76 Crores. M/s. TCS selected through the tender process as a service provider. The project implementation with 10 DHQs connected with SHQ and 464 MHQs are connected to respective DHQs and Partial Acceptance Testing (PAT) is completed. PAT clearance was issued from 26.11.2010. TPA (Third Party Audit) is completed and cleared for 464 Pops. 463 MHQs are operational. Migration to New SWAN for existing Government offices connected to Old SWAN has been completed. For Horizontal Connectivity to SWAN Service Providers were selected through a tender process.

Agreements are signed and orders were issued for e-Seva, IGRS, RTA, Revenue department connections to SWAN as per requirement projected by concerned departments. Horizontal Connectivity is under progress. Already 1535 horizontal links completed. Between SHQ – DHQ the Bandwidth is upgraded from 8 Mbps to 12 Mbps and 1527 DHQ – MHQ bandwidth is upgraded from 2 to 4 Mbps. Analyzed the existing bandwidth, proposed to increase up to 34 Mbps.

G.Rajendera Kumar