Hyderabad, has transformed itself into an established Hub for IT & IT Enabled Services companies, ranking first in India for Human Resource Development and with an average literacy rate of 82% - well above the national literacy rate. The main thrust for IT/ITES growth is in the West of Hyderabad, in the areas of Madhapur, HiTec City, Kondapur, Gachibowli, and Kokapet. As a result, it is not surprising that an increasing number of technology firms are accepting assignments in Hyderabad.

Why is Hyderabad preferred?

The Indian tech startup scene exploded in 2021. With the addition of 2,250 tech startups and 42 unicorns in a single year, India surpassed the United States and China to become the world's third-largest startup ecosystem. Bengaluru leads the pack in terms of the number of Indian tech startups. However, thanks to its infrastructure, talent pool, and government-backed incubators, Hyderabad is not far behind.

In February, IIT Hyderabad opened a 1,50,000-square-foot Technology Research Park, funded by the Union Ministry of Education, to help bridge the gap between industry and academia. The park will provide infrastructure and facilities for industry partners to establish R&D centres on the IIT Hyderabad campus & tech companies like Google recently announced plans to build its largest campus outside of Mountain View in Hyderabad. The facility will cover 7.3 acres of land and have a built-up area of 3.3 million square feet, which is larger than Amazon's 3 million square foot campus next door. Furthermore, Hyderabad has one of Google's largest employee bases. However, Google is not the only company that has established a presence in Hyderabad, raising the question, "Is Hyderabad becoming India's new tech hub?"

State government initiatives

Telangana's government has enacted a number of laws to encourage IT development and foreign investment. HITEC City (Hyderabad Information Technology and Engineering Consultancy City) was also established by the state to promote information technology, engineering, health informatics, and bioinformatics in Hyderabad. As part of the new ICT policy, Telangana Information Technology, Electronics and Communications Department Minister KT Rama Rao will launch the Startup Telangana portal in September 2021.The portal serves as a one-stop shop for the entire startup ecosystem.The government also announced a Memorandum of Understanding with Microsoft to develop the local ecosystem through startup programmes and skill-building initiatives. Furthermore, Google has signed an agreement to support Telangana's vision of using technology to accelerate long-term economic development.

As part of the Department of IT, Electronics, and Communication, the Telangana government has an emerging technologies section. The state intends to pilot e-governance initiatives using IoT, cloud computing, drones, and AI technologies. Real-time digital citizen authentication, drone-based medical delivery, and real-time IoT flood monitoring in urban areas are among the projects proposed. Larsen and Toubro Metro Rail Hyderabad Limited has opened e-Galleria, a first-of-its-kind electronic and technology mall.

Investments

Bosch Global Software Technologies opened an R&D centre in Hyderabad focused on Automotive Engineering and Digital Enterprise. The company intends to capitalise on Hyderabad's thriving software ecosystem as well as centres of excellence in new emerging technologies. Microsoft announced in March that its fourth and largest data centre in India would be built in Hyderabad. Microsoft, which had previously only been present in Mumbai, Chennai, and Pune, will now be present in Hyderabad on three separate plots of land. Web Werks, based in Mumbai, also announced the acquisition of a standalone data centre in Hyderabad with a power capacity of 10 MVA and an expected IT load of up to 6MW.

Fisker Inc, an electric vehicle company, established its India headquarters in Hyderabad last month. Our expansion into India represents both a strategic market opportunity and a significant boost to our global engineering capabilities," Fisker chairman and CEO Henrik Fisker said. "I would also like to thank the State of Telangana for their assistance in allowing us to get off to a quick start as we set up our initial operations." "We are excited to tap into India's expanding talent pool," he added.

Growth Trajectory Ahead

First and foremost, we cannot hide our delight at the arrival of major corporations such as Apple and Google in India.The potential for growth is limitless. Given our population, this will be the most efficient use of one of our most valuable resources. Employment opportunities will increase, not only in the IT sector, but also in the labour force, management, and many other areas. We can certainly expect a significant increase in the country's economy as a result of this.