Even as Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy is currently on a trip to the US and South Korea to bring in more investment, former IT minister and BRS working president KT Rama Rao today sounded the alarm over declining IT exports as well as new IT jobs in the state.

Taking to social media platform X, Rao expressed his apprehension in a lengthy post. He said, “The alarming decline in Telangana’s IT exports is a matter of serious concern. Even more concerning is the fact that new IT jobs have fallen to one-third of the 2022-23 numbers.”

Citing statistics, he said while growth in IT exports was Rs 57,706 in 2022-23 it has dropped to Rs 26,948 crore in 2023-24. In case of IT employment growth there were 1,27,594 new jobs in 2022-23 which dropped to 40,285 in 2023-24.

Rao then went on to remind that “The IT sector is a crucial engine that fuels the growth of Hyderabad city and Telangana state. During the tenure of BRS, this sector witnessed unprecedented growth thanks to several path breaking policies and the TSiPASS single-window initiative. I urge the Congress government to prioritize the IT and ITEs sector and ensure policy continuity. Existing investors need to be supported and new investments must be attracted. Young entrepreneurs and startups must be supported by all means.”

Criticising the current government for not focussing on maintaining law and order and infrastructure upgradation, Rao said, “Incessant infrastructure upgradation and the strict maintenance of law and order play an important role in sustaining the growth of the IT sector in the state. The Congress government needs to focus on these areas, which seem to have taken a back seat since they assumed office.”

However, an ‘X’ user pointed out there has been a hiring freeze by top IT majors, which has led to the decline in IT exports.

Moreover, Hyderabad was still recording a 11.5 per cent growth even when nationally the figure is abysmal at merely 3.3 per cent. In 2023-24, it was the BRS government which was in most part before losing elections and making way for the Congress.