First phase of Fab City in two years

Hyderabad, Feb 22 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh Minister for Mines and Information Technology Sabita Reddy today informed the Assembly that the first phase of the proposed Fab City would be operational in two years and the second phase by 2009-2010.

Replying to a question by Nadendla Manohar (Congress) and supplementaries by R Suryaprakasha Rao (Congress), N Chandrababu Naidu, D Narendra Kumar (TDP) and M A Gafoor (CPM), she said 1200 acres of land had been allotted for establishing the Fab City, for which investment of Rs 4,500 crore would be made during the first phase and Rs 9,000 crore during the second.

Ms Reddy said while 5,000 persons would get direct employment, one to 1.5 lakh would get indirect employment. There was scope for 200 ancillary industries. She exuded confidence that with Fab City, the first in South East Asia, India would stand alongside advanced countries like Japan, Korea and Singapore.

Fab City had become a reality despite stiff competition from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, due to the efforts of the Chief Minister and the cooperation of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Ms Sonia Gandhi, she said, adding, the state government had drawn up the right policy and given confidence to investors by ensuring law and order and providing infrastructure.

The Minister said the government had decided to set up Hardware, Nano Technology and Robo Technology Park in 1000 acre near the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. District Collectors were directed to identify land in districts for developing the IT industry.

TDP member Narendra Kumar said Fab City became a reality only due to the international airport and the infrastructure for which the erstwhile TDP government had laid the foundation.

The Minister said the TDP was claiming responsibility for all good things, but throwing the blame on the Congress for farmers' suicides, which, she alleged, were the fall out of TDP rule.

Opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu said if the government was willing to give credit for excellent infrastructure created by his regime to the TDP, his party was willing to take the blame for the suicides. Congress had once been against IT and said it would not provide food to the masses. But it was now utilising infrastructure provided by his government for establishing IT industries and claiming credit for it, Mr Naidu said.

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