The Andhra Pradesh cabinet allotted 21.16 acres of land in Visakhapatnam to Tata Consultancy Services for a symbolic price of just 99 paise, sources said.
The company is planning to come up with a development centre in the city at an investment of Rs 1,370 crore, generating over 12,000 jobs, they said.
According to sources, the discussions for the land between the state and the company started in October 2024, when the state's IT Minister Nara Lokesh visited Bombay House -- the Tata Sons headquarters -- and made a pitch for TCS to set up a large development centre in Andhra Pradesh.
"With continuous follow-ups and discussions between the state government and TCS, Lokesh has piloted an allotment of 21.16 acres of land in Vizag to TCS for a total consideration of 99 paise. It is a bold decision to signal to the industry that Andhra Pradesh is serious about attracting IT investments," a government source said.
This comes at a time when the State Investment Promotion Board has already cleared investments to the tune of Rs 4.71 trillion by 57 companies since the NDA government took charge last year. This is expected to create 4.17 lakh jobs.
The Andhra government has set a target of creating about 2 million jobs while aiming to attract over Rs 40 trillion in investment till 2029. Out of this, reports indicate that the state has already received investment proposals to the tune of Rs 8 trillion.
The renewables sector will get the lion's share of the new investment proposals, attracting around Rs 4 trillion from national and international players in eight months, mainly owing to the Integrated Clean Energy Policy launched in October 2024 that fast-tracked clearances and lined up fresh sops.
Major investors include Tata Power (Rs 49,000 crore), multiple projects by NTPC Green (Rs 2.08 trillion), Vedanta's Serentica (Rs 50,000 crore), SAEL Industries (Rs 6,000 crore), and Brookfield (Rs 50,000 crore), among others. Additionally, ReNew Power is in the process of making a "significantly larger" investment in the state.
According to a Central Electricity Authority roadmap, of the target of 500 Gw generation capacity from non-fossil fuel resources by 2030, 86 Gw of RE potential is in South India. Out of this 86 Gw, around 51 Gw has been identified in Andhra Pradesh (Anantapur 20 Gw, Kurnool 23 Gw, and Kadapa 8 Gw).
The move of allotting the land at a token price of 99 paise by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to TCS is being compared to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he was the Gujarat chief minister and provided land to Tata Motors in Sanand for 99 paise. The initiative led to the evolution of an automobile ecosystem in that state. It also added to Modi's image as a pro-industry leader.
Shine Jacob, Business Standard
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