Cognizant to invest Rs 500 crore to expand Hyderabad facility

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In a major booster for the IT sector in the city, IT major Cognizant on Wednesday announced that it would be investing over Rs 500 crore in expanding its Gachibowli facility in the city to accommodate another 8,000 professionals over the next few years.

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The IT major, which started it Hyderabad operations in 2002 with 180 people, currently employs 18,000 people across five facilities in the city. The Gachibowli campus is the sole facility owned by the company while the rest, spread out in Ameerpet and Hitec City area, are leased.

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With its latest investment, the company will be adding a built-up area of 1.5 million sq ft on its 11-acre Gachibowli campus, which has an existing 2.25 lakh sq ft facility, the company said in a statement.

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Currently, the Hyderabad campus is Cognizant’s primary center for industry aligned business process services.

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Commenting on the expansion plans, Cognizant vice-chairman Lakshmi Narayanan said, “Cognizant’s investment in Hyderabad underscores our commitment to grow our operations in the city and tap into the region’s best-in-class talent. Our Hyderabad center is an important part of our integrated global delivery capability and represents our continued success in hiring the best talent to support our ever expanding range of services, industries, and geographies.” Through its centres in the city, the company provides a host of services like consulting, enterprise applications, IT infrastructure, and business process services to over 300 of its global clients in sectors spanning banking and financial services, insurance, retail, hospitality, manufacturing and life sciences.

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This apart, the company has hired over 8,000 fresh graduates over the past five years from around 20 engineering, management, science, arts and commerce colleges in the region.

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World’s best single window clearance system to come up in Telangana, India

World’s best single window clearance system to come up in Telangana

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The Telangana government is all set to bring in a “Right to Single Window Services” ordinance for investors, which will make the concerned officials liable for suspension and penalty if clearances for industrial projects are not given in 15 days.
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Their increments and salaries will be cut and the amount thus collected will be paid to the respective investors as compensation for the delay.

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At present, an investor has to obtain nearly 30 approvals from various departments to set up an industry and the average time to clear the files ranges from two to five years and more. Several proposals that were submitted during the last Partnership Summit held in Hyderabad in January 2012 are still pending.
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Though Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao wants to bring the Act in the Legislative Assembly, it has been kept on hold due to delay in convening the Assembly session. To overcome this, the government is planning to take the ordinance route to ensure that the “investor-friendly norms” come into force at the earliest. Under the new system, the CM himself will handover nearly 30 approvals to investors.
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The Telangana CMO will pursue the files cleared by the Chief Minister with all the departments in 15 days. Probably for the first time in the country that such an Act is being planned to check delay and graft in clearing investment proposals.
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The aim behind the ordinance is that the Telangana government is planning to conduct a “Partnership Summit” by inviting industrialists from all the major countries and states in late-December or early-January and it wants to showcase that the state has the world’s best single window clearance system wherein officials will be taken to task if approvals are delayed under one pretext or the other or if they resort to any kind of corruption to grant approvals.
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Mr Chandrasekhar Rao has been spending several hours every day since Saturday to draft the ordinance with officials of the Industries department. Legal department officials have also been involved in the exercise to ensure that enough precautions are taken to see that the ordinance does not invite legal problems for the government.
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After holding meetings with officials on Saturday and Sunday, KCR on Monday invited representatives of industry bodies like CII, FICCI and FAPCCI for their inputs on the ordinance.
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He is learnt to have told industry representatives that he had promised the world’s best single window clearance system to top industrialists like Mr Ratan Tata, Mr Azim Premji, Mr Anil Ambani, Mr Satya Nadella, Mr G. Mallikarjuna Rao and others and their expectations should be met at any cost and asked them to give inputs on how to achieve this goal.
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The industry representatives sought a week’s time to give their feedback on the ordinance to which the CM agreed. Mr Rao told them that all appropriate inputs given by them would be incorporated in the ordinance, which is expected to be issued any time before Diwali.
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How approvals are getting delayed for long?
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In the existing method, investors have to approach nearly 30 government departments to secure approvals. The prominent being No Objection Certificates from the Pollution Control Board, department of Forests and Environment, Fire Services besides approvals from Roads and Buildings, HMDA, GHMC, Water Board, Electricity department etc. There is no specific time frame to clear these proposals and it takes two to five years and more.
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The normal practice being adopted by officials to delay proceedings is by keeping files pending with them under one pretext or the other till the last minute and then issue notices pointing out deficiencies and seek rectifications.
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After coming out with rectifications, they raise few more queries and seek explanations. It goes on and on till investors succumb to their demands for bribes.
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Happening Hyderabad
September 30,2014

World’s best single window clearance system to come up in Telanagana

World’s best single window clearance system to come up in Telangana

.

The Telangana government is all set to bring in a “Right to Single Window Services” ordinance for investors, which will make the concerned officials liable for suspension and penalty if clearances for industrial projects are not given in 15 days.
.

Their increments and salaries will be cut and the amount thus collected will be paid to the respective investors as compensation for the delay.

.
At present, an investor has to obtain nearly 30 approvals from various departments to set up an industry and the average time to clear the files ranges from two to five years and more. Several proposals that were submitted during the last Partnership Summit held in Hyderabad in January 2012 are still pending.
.

Though Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao wants to bring the Act in the Legislative Assembly, it has been kept on hold due to delay in convening the Assembly session. To overcome this, the government is planning to take the ordinance route to ensure that the “investor-friendly norms” come into force at the earliest. Under the new system, the CM himself will handover nearly 30 approvals to investors.
.

The Telangana CMO will pursue the files cleared by the Chief Minister with all the departments in 15 days. Probably for the first time in the country that such an Act is being planned to check delay and graft in clearing investment proposals.
.

The aim behind the ordinance is that the Telangana government is planning to conduct a “Partnership Summit” by inviting industrialists from all the major countries and states in late-December or early-January and it wants to showcase that the state has the world’s best single window clearance system wherein officials will be taken to task if approvals are delayed under one pretext or the other or if they resort to any kind of corruption to grant approvals.
.

Mr Chandrasekhar Rao has been spending several hours every day since Saturday to draft the ordinance with officials of the Industries department. Legal department officials have also been involved in the exercise to ensure that enough precautions are taken to see that the ordinance does not invite legal problems for the government.
.

After holding meetings with officials on Saturday and Sunday, KCR on Monday invited representatives of industry bodies like CII, FICCI and FAPCCI for their inputs on the ordinance.
.

He is learnt to have told industry representatives that he had promised the world’s best single window clearance system to top industrialists like Mr Ratan Tata, Mr Azim Premji, Mr Anil Ambani, Mr Satya Nadella, Mr G. Mallikarjuna Rao and others and their expectations should be met at any cost and asked them to give inputs on how to achieve this goal.
.

The industry representatives sought a week’s time to give their feedback on the ordinance to which the CM agreed. Mr Rao told them that all appropriate inputs given by them would be incorporated in the ordinance, which is expected to be issued any time before Diwali.
.
How approvals are getting delayed for long?
.

In the existing method, investors have to approach nearly 30 government departments to secure approvals. The prominent being No Objection Certificates from the Pollution Control Board, department of Forests and Environment, Fire Services besides approvals from Roads and Buildings, HMDA, GHMC, Water Board, Electricity department etc. There is no specific time frame to clear these proposals and it takes two to five years and more.
.

The normal practice being adopted by officials to delay proceedings is by keeping files pending with them under one pretext or the other till the last minute and then issue notices pointing out deficiencies and seek rectifications.
.

After coming out with rectifications, they raise few more queries and seek explanations. It goes on and on till investors succumb to their demands for bribes.
.

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Happening Hyderabad
September 30,2014

Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR), Hyderabad

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Government of India has approved the proposal to set up an Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) near Hyderabad which envisages spending of about Rs. 2.19 lakh crore and generation of nearly 15 lakh direct jobs.
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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved setting up of ITIR near Hyderabad. the total investment for the
ITIR will be about Rs. 2.19 lakh crore on September 20, 2013.
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Of the total investment, the IT/ITeS sector is to attract investments of Rs. 1.18 lakh crore and the electronic hardware
manufacturing (EHM) sector of Rs. 1.01 lakh crore, according to an official release.The ITIR is expected to generate direct employment of 14.8 lakh and indirect employment of 55.9 lakh, it added. The major investments will be from public-private partnerships.
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“Government of India has also proposed upgradation of three radial roads and extension of the metro rail from Falaknuma to
Shamshabad international airport at total cost of Rs. 3,275 crore,” it said.
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The Telangana government has delineated an area of 202 sq km for the proposed ITIR in three clusters – Cyberabad
Development Area and its surroundings, Hyderabad Airport Development area and Maheshwaram in the south of Hyderabad and Uppal and Pocharam areas in eastern Hyderabad.
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The ITIR will be implemented in two phases. Phase I will from 2013 to 2018 and Phase II will be from 2018 to 2038, the
statement said. It is expected to develop into a key industrial region for IT, ITeS and electronic hardware manufacturing sectors.Special consideration will be given to accommodate small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the proposed ITIR.
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Telangana contributes 12.4 per cent of the total IT exports of the country and ranks 4th in IT performance in the country. During the 2011-2012 fiscal, the state’s IT sector reported a total (domestic and export) turnover of Rs. 53,246 crore, of which exports (STPI stood at Rs. 28,948 crore and SEZ Rs. 11,698 crore), while domestic sector reported a turnover of Rs. 12,600 crore.
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The CCEA had approved a policy resolution to set up ITIRs in different states to promote investment in IT/ITeS and
electronic manufacturing sector.
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As per the policy, Central Government will provide the necessary viability gap funding for external physical
infrastructure through existing schemes. The Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) is the nodal department to process proposals relating to setting up of ITIRs.

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Happening Hyderabad
20 Sept 2013

Single Window Clearance (SWC) system introduced in Telangana for the speeding of the business clearences

Single Window Clearance (SWC) system introduced in Telangana for the speeding of the business clearances

In a marathon meeting that lasted for nearly five hours, chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday promised Telangana Inc that the state government would firm up a single window clearance (SWC) system `better’ than that of Singapore’s, which is touted as the best in the world, to make it easy to do business in the state.
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“Singapore has the best single window clearance system in the world. I promise and assure you that Telangana will have a better single window policy that will ensure clearances in 20-22 days. There will not be any hype or cosmetic window-dressing. Our industrial policy will be realistic as we are very ambitious,“ KCR said while addressing an interactive session with Telangana Inc as part of the government’s efforts to elicit industry’s views before formulating the new industrial policy .
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KCR reiterated that the chief minister’s office (CMO) would directly monitor the SWC system to ensure that all the necessary clearances are given to investors in one shot so that they don’t have to waste time doing the rounds of various government offices. The CM also told the corporate bigwigs that the government was also in the process of identifying land parcels that could be utilized by industry . Top honchos of major corporate houses such as Dr Reddy’s Laboratories chairman Satish Reddy, Cyient Ltd (formerly Infotech Enterprises) founder chairman BVR Mohan Reddy, Apollo Hospitals group joint managing director Sangita Reddy as well as representatives of nearly 45 national and state-level industry associations like National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (Dicci), Indian Pharmaceutical Association (IPA), Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (Credai) and Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Fapcci) and Federation of Andhra Pradesh Small Industries Association (Fapsia) attended the meeting.
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The exercise was more than satisfactory to most of those who spoke on behalf of industry associations as the Chief Minister responded spontaneously on several issues, cleared their doubts and offered some benefits. Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao’s plain speak on issues related to levy of taxes, particularly on cotton by-products, and his offer to reduce taxes if they were lesser in neighboring States, helped him win over the entrepreneurs instantly.

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Most of the concerns and problems raised at the meet by the representatives of the industry include power problem, high rate of land, variations in taxes compared to neighboring States, problems in getting clearance from pollution control board. The Chief Minister assured them of addressing all concerns. “Some Union Ministers and Governor spoke to me recently and complimented the government’s approach in attracting investments. While recommending some investors to the State they (Union Ministers) had told me that the same investors had come to the State in the past but they went back as the government heads then wanted a share in the investments,” the Chief Minister told the industry associations to drive home his point that his government would not indulge in such practices.

Uninterrupted Power Supply to ITIR, Hyderabad  (The Information Technology Investment Region)

Betting big on the ITIR project, the CM said that the state government would put in place the requisite infrastructure to support the project that would boost the fortunes of the industry and the state.

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“We intend to make Hyderabad a software and hardware hub, for which dedicated power supply is critical. We will draw power from neighboring Chhattisgarh through a dedicated line and ensure uninterrupted supply. We are also looking at alternative sources such as solar and wind energy.“
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The industry representatives urged the CM to build industrial corridors along the national highways leading to Bangalore, Mumbai and Nagpur and set up industrial parks in other parts of the state to ease the congestion in and around Hyderabad region and ensure the fruits of development benefit the backward districts of Telangana.
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Industry associations representing the small and medium enterprises too put forth their list of demands before the CM, including quality power supply, release of subsidies/incentives pending for the last two years and earmarking of 25% area of industrial parks and SEZs for SMEs.

Shakti Sagar CMD of ADP, K. Satish Reddy, Chairman of Dr. Reddy’s and Suresh Chitturi, Chairman of CII -AP and T at the interaction with the Chief Minister of Telangana in Hyderabad on Tuesday on the new Industrial Policy. Photo: P.V. Sivakumar

Courtesy :  TIMES NEWS NETWORK, The Hindu