Hyderabad: The Information Technology (IT) Tower project at Malakpet area in the Old Hyderabad has not taken off even a year after its foundation was laid.
The foundation stone for the IT Tower, which was expected to cater to the old city and provide 50,000 jobs to youth, was laid last year by then IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao just before the Assembly elections.
However, due to a change of guard following the defeat of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), uncertainty has hit the project. No steps have been taken by the Congress government during the last one year to take the project ahead.
Rama Rao had laid the foundation stone for the project in the presence of Hyderabad MP and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi.
It was then announced that the IT tower named iTEK Nucleus would be completed in 36 months. To be constructed at a cost of Rs.700 crore, this was designed to be the first IT building in in Muslim majority old city.
Planned in an area of about 11 acres, the 21-storey tower was designed with office space of 15 lakh square feet. The then IT Minister had announced that the facility will have IT space of 5.5 lakh square feet while the remaining will be for non-IT.
Rama Rao had promised to bring a leading company as anchor for this facility. He said he would talk to Microsoft, Deloitte, Amazon and other major companies to invite them to set up their operations here.
Recently Rama Rao requested the present IT and Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu to complete the construction of IT Tower.
The former minister said that there has been no progress on the project since he laid the foundation stone. “The IT tower, if completed, would provide direct and indirect employment to around 50,000 youth,” he said.
The IT tower was planned as part of the state government’s policy to disperse IT sector outside HITEC City and Gachibowli clusters.
Asaduddin Owaisi had said at the foundation laying ceremony that about 8,000 to 10,000 young techies from the old city travel to HITEC City every day.
