Apple to set up development centre at Hyderabad

Suresh Dharur

Tribune News Service

Hyderabad, February 17

Global technology giant, Apple Computer Inc will set up its technology development centre in Hyderabad. This would be the iPhone maker’s first innovation and technology development facility outside its headquarters in Cupertino, California.

The American company is planning to invest $25 million in a phased manner to set up the centre, which is expected to be operational by June this year. It is likely to provide around 4,500 jobs. A team of top company executives is expected to visit Hyderabad soon to make the formal announcement.

“Apple’s entire Maps Division will be set up here to develop its own mapping systems,” Telangana Information Technology Secretary Jayesh Ranjan said.

“The 2,50,000-sq ft centre will come up at Tishman Speyer’s WaveRock facility, built at a cost of around Rs 150 crore,” the official said. Apple had applied for space at the notified SEZ which has been approved. The facility will come up at the city’s IT hub Gachibowli which is also home to the offices of multinational and domestic IT and software development companies. A notified IT special economic zone, Waverock is spread over 1.5 million square feet. It was developed in two phases, in 2010 and 2014.

“We’ve been investing to expand our operations in India and are thrilled to have passionate customers and a vibrant developer community across the country. We are looking forward to opening a new development office in Hyderabad that will be home to over 150 Apple employees supporting maps development. The office will also have space for many contractors who will support our ambitious efforts locally,” Apple said.

The development comes as a major boost to the state government’s efforts to develop the city as a major international IT destination. Last year, Google Inc. had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to set up its own campus on a seven-acre plot handed over by the government. Besides, Amazon, IKEA and Flipkart have already selected the city to build their facilities. Google plans to open South Asia’s biggest campus and its only facility outside the US in Hyderabad in the next few years.