Happy to lose my seat for women: KTR

BRS working president and IT minister K.T. Rama Rao on Wednesday welcomed the clearance of the women’s quota Bill as a right move for the inclusion of women in policymaking.

"The Indian Parliament is debating on the Women’s Reservation Bill, which we welcome and we want to see more and more women leaders. If I have to lose my seat, so be it. We all have a limited shelf-life and I have done my bit," he said.

Rama Rao was speaking while welcoming the Singapore Parliament Deputy Speaker Jessica Tan to the launch of the redeveloped International Tech Park Hyderabad (ITPH) by CapitaLand Investment Limited (CLI) on Wednesday.

CLI, a leading global real estate investment manager, commenced the first phase of its operations at the newly redeveloped International Tech Park Hyderabad (ITPH).

The business park has received a 100 per cent lease commitment from leading global corporations for its Block-A office building. At the launch of ITPH Block-A, a groundbreaking ceremony was also held for the development of a 40-megawatt (MW) data centre in ITPH.

CapitaLand India Trust (CLINT) will invest in the complete redevelopment of ITPH, which is expected to be done in phases over the next seven to 10 years. After completion, ITPH will provide 4.9 million square feet of Grade A+ office space to house more than 50,000 IT/IT-enabled Services (ITeS) professionals.

So far, about $1.5 billion (more than Rs 12,000 crore) has been invested in Hyderabad and about $ 600 million will be invested in the foreseeable future, the company



announced.

"CLI's commitment to developing world-class business parks and data centres in Hyderabad is a testament to the exponential growth of the city’s IT sector. With Hyderabad becoming a preferred destination for leading global corporations, we are dedicated to providing the infrastructure and support necessary for these companies to grow and succeed," the minister said.

He urged the company to make Hyderabad a hub and also consider investing in manufacturing, logistics, life sciences and warehousing segments.

"Hyderabad is among the fastest growing markets for CLI in India where we have close to 30 years of experience. We currently have 12 business parks across six cities in India, three of which are in Hyderabad. Our business parks in India enjoy a strong average occupancy rate, of close to 90 per cent, housing over 1,50,000 professionals from both multinational and local companies," said Sanjeev Dasgupta, chief executive officer, CLI India and chief executive officer of CLINT.

As part of Phase-1 operations, the 1.4 million sq. ft Block-A office building has received lease commitments from global corporations, including Bristol Myers Squibb, Ernst & Young, Tata Consultancy Services, VXI Global, US Technology, Warner Bros. Discovery, Cloud4C Services and ANSR Global Corporation.

The data centre at ITPH will have a built-up area of three lakh sq. ft. Its technologically advanced specifications will allow it to serve international hyper-scalers and large enterprises.