Vizag, Vijayawada and Tirupati are emerging tech hubs: Nasscom report

Tirupati, Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada have found a place in the list of 26 emerging technology hubs of India, according to a report prepared by Deloitte India and Nasscom on the rise of the next wave of technology hubs.

While Visakhapatnam is a home to over 250+ technology and business process management (BPM) organisations, Vijayawada has a moderate presence of BPM-related and technology business setups.

Tirupati, on the other hand, is making fast inroads into the technology domain.

According to the report, businesses enjoy a 25-30 percent cost advantage in talent pool and a striking 50 percent lower real estate rental in these tier-II cities compared to their tier-I IT hubs. This economic advantage makes these cities an attractive choice for growth without having to loosen the purse string much. Beyond the cost advantage, the tier-II cities have become breeding grounds for innovation, nurturing a mutually beneficial relationship between start-ups and established corporations.

For instance, Visakhapatnam city alone has 1,120 homegrown start-ups with nearly 20 percent of them being the tech start-ups.

Similarly, Vijayawada has about 25,000 experienced talent pool. The good education ecosystem, comprising of premier national institutions like Andhra University, IIT-Tirupati, IIM-Visakhapatnam, Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy, IITDM-Kurnool, etc. of Andhra Pradesh makes the state a favourable destination for the IT companies to foray into tier-II cities.

Speaking to TOI about the startup ecosystem of Andhra Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh Innovation Society CEO Anil Kumar Tentu said that the APIS is planning to set up a Centre of Excellence on Metaverse for startups.

“Microsoft has agreed to collaborate with APIS as a knowledge partner for this centre. A delegation from Microsoft will visit us in the second half of this month. Apart from designing the curriculum, Microsoft will provide key modules of Metaverse to APIS at free of cost to extend this initiative to a select few colleges in the first phase,” said Anil Kumar.

“Similarly, the APIS is also trying to get Google Startup School, which is already being implemented in 14 different parts of the country. The APIS is also pitching to get an accelerator from Google. Apart from the three cities mentioned in the Nasscom and Deloitte report, the APIS is fast expanding its presence to every city of the state, including Kakinada,” said the CEO of APIS, which is the nodal agency for the startup ecosystem in Andhra Pradesh.

Anil Kumar added that they are planning to set up a FabLab in collaboration with the STPI either in Tirupati or Vijayawada.