(Economic Times, Mar 29, 2018)
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu today said Visakhapatnam will become a fintech hub in the country in future as information technology sector was gaining momentum in the state.
It was a good sign that a Fortune 500 company like Franklin Templeton Investments had chosen to set up a centre in the city, he said after inaugurating the office of Franklin Templeton Investments here.
“The company will invest Rs 450 crore here gradually on setting up the centre and provide 2,500 high-end jobs. Today it has opened the office,” he added.
Naidu recalled how the company had first set up the centre in Hyderabad in the undivided AP way back in 2002 and expressed confidence that the Vizag centre would be even more successful than the one in Hyderabad.
Franklin Templeton Investments, president and Chief Operating Officer, Jennifer M Johnson said the company had confidence and faith in the Chief Minister, the key architect and visionary, who built the IT sector in Hyderabad and is now doing so in Visakhapatnam.
She expressed confidence that the Vizag centre would flourish.
Earlier, the Chief Minister inaugurated the centre of Conduent Inc. in the IT park at Rushikonda.
The company will generate 5,000 jobs in the next two years and will invest roughly Rs 650 crore.
Franklin Templeton Investments in collaboration with technology services company Innova Solutions on Thursday inaugurated a Center of Innovation at Vizag in Andhra Pradesh that will focus on building core competencies in investment management data science.
This will be the company’s first facility in Vizag after Hyderabad, Chennai and Mumbai and was inaugurated by the Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
In a statement, Jenny Johnson, president and chief operating officer, Franklin Templeton Investments, said, “Once fully operational, our Vizag centre will play a key role in the firm’s technology plans and this inauguration marks a new chapter in our relationship with India. The fintech centre will be modelled along the lines of our Hyderabad facility which serves as a global offshore support center for Franklin Templeton”.
The Vizag facility will serve as a Center of Innovation and one of the key tech hubs for Franklin Templeton Investments globally. The firm will look to leverage its strategic investment pool to invest in disruptive companies and launch vertical disruptors through a rapid development process where ‘concept to prototype to design/development’ will be nurtured in an expedient manner, the company said in its statement.
