Vizag Beach Resorts

An Indian-American couple, Prad and Kelly Sabharwal of St Louis, Missouri, is leading a $2 billion development at Vizag on India’s east coast, which will consist of tourist-resort hotels, business offices, conference centres, a medical complex, 2,000 homes, and the world’s largest water park.

A report says, convinced the Indian government, which owns the vacant land, to sign a memorandum of understanding last November allowing Sabharwal and his financial backers to develop the parcels in exchange for equity. The development, called Vizag Beach Resorts Private Ltd., is expected to create a substantial tax base and about 20,000 jobs when completed. The groundbreaking ceremony is set for August this year.

The port city of Vaizag is home to India’s largest shipbuilding yard, several oil refineries, pharmaceutical development and a steel plant. It is also becoming an increasingly popular seaside vacation spot.

Software Boom in Vizag

Software exports from the Visakhapatnam region increased by around 56 per cent at Rs 109 crore in the financial year ended March 31, 2006, as compared to Rs 70 crore in the corresponding previous year.

Mr. Prabhakar Rao, former president, Visakhapatnam Information Technology Association (VITA), said in the current year, software exports from Vizag were likely to cross Rs 150 crore. The region was expected to see enormous growth with the setting up of units by software giants like Satyam, Wipro and TCS, he said.

At present, the Vizag region has about 50 small and medium software units, of which about 10 units started their operations during the last financial year.

According to Rao, apart from major software companies, about 15-20 small and medium software firms are likely to begin their operations during this financial year following which the current year software exports are likely to cross the Rs 150-crore mark.

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