Hyderabad,  Despite Covid-19 pandemic and its adverse impact on the economy, Telangana registered nearly 13 per cent growth in information technology exports to cross Rs 1.45 lakh crore during 2020-21.

Telangana's IT/ITES exports during the year stood at Rs 1,45,522 crore, an increase of 12.98 per cent over the previous financial year.

State's IT minister K.T. Rama Rao on Thursday told reporters that the state continued its phenomenal performance in the middle of the pandemic.

Even by conservative estimates, Telangana's IT/ITES exports growth rate is poised to be over two times that of the national average.

The state also added over 46,489 jobs in IT/ITES sector, to take the total number of direct employment to 6,28,615.

The job growth in Telangana has been 7.99 per cent compared to 2019-20. "This is significantly higher national average of 2 per cent," he said.

In 2019-20, Telangana had recorded IT exports of Rs 1,28,807 crore, a growth rate of 17.93 per cent, which was more than double the national average of 8.09 per cent.

The job growth was 7.20 per cent compared to national average of 4.93 per cent.

"Even as the pandemic moved the world in a tangential direction, Telangana has maintained its leadership in creating a business-friendly environment. IT companies across the world have appreciated the promptness, strategic outlook, and adaptability of Telangana," he said.

The minister said representatives of top IT companies have mentioned that the adoption of work from home was best executed in Telangana due to the timely support and interventions by the government. "Even with new work environment dynamics, the majority of the overseas companies based out of Hyderabad have shared that there was no impact on the quality of delivery," he added.

The minister said the IT sector in Telangana grew by leaps and bounds in last seven years. The IT exports in India's youngest state grew to Rs 1.45 lakh crore from Rs 57,000 crore in 2013-14. The number of IT/ITES jobs doubled to 6.28 lakhs in 2020-21 from 3.23 lakhs in 2013-14.

Telangana's IT/ITES exports have been growing at CAGR of 14.25 per cent since its inception in 2013-14.

KTR, as the minister is popularly known, said Telangana continued to attract new investments in the sector. Amazon Data Services India Pvt Ltd is setting up three data centres with an investment of Rs 20,761 crore ($2.77 billion).

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has announced a smart data centre in Hyderabad with an investment of Rs 500 crore.

Salesforce plans to expand Hyderabad footprint by three times by investing Rs 1,119 core and create 2,500 more jobs in the next 5 years

The minister pointed Goldman Sachs has selected Hyderabad as its location for the global shared services footprint in India with an employment of 500.

World leader in automobile Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is setting up the largest and only facility outside its headquarters in North America with an investment of Rs 1,100 crore and 1,000 jobs in the first year.

US-based BFSI major MassMutual is setting up its global capability center outside the US in Hyderabad with initial investment of Rs 1,000 crore and employment potential of more than 300.