Vishakhapatnam: Union Minister for Communication and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday said Andhra Pradesh would be developed as a major electronics hub, and announced several initiatives planned in this direction.
"Andhra Pradesh would become a major electronics manufacturing hub, as four electronics clusters have already been sanctioned for the state, and the fifth one is in process," Prasad said.
The Minister was speaking after laying the foundation stone for the (Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering and Research (SAMEER) Centre for Electromagnetic Environmental Effects (E3) here.
"The SAMEER, a Centre for Electromagnetic Environmental Effects, is an autonomous R&D institution under the Department of Electronics and Information and Technology (DEITY), Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT). It is one of the most advanced institutions of the Government of India," he said.
The organization, headquartered at Mumbai, operates through four other centres in Chennai, Kolkata, Guwahati and Visakhapatnam, he said.
The permanent building of the institution would be constructed in an area of 15 acres in Gambhiram village in Anandapuram mandal of the district, he said.
Prasad said Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's request to set up Information Technology and Investment Region (ITIR) in the state would be considered after the Union government formulates the ITIR policy.
He rued that the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) was a profit-making entity till 2004, but it became a loss-making body in the 10-year rule of the Congress-led Union government.
"In the last 17 months, the BSNL has again started making profit. It has earned operating profit of Rs 672 crore," he said.
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