Cognizant Technology Solutions has secured 21.31 acres of land in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, for a nominal lease price of 99 paise. The land will be used to develop a Rs 1,582.98-crore self-funded IT campus, which is expected to create employment for 8,000 people over the next eight years.

The project site falls under the jurisdiction of the Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA). Commercial operations are targeted to commence by March 2029. The deal is part of a broader push by the Andhra Pradesh government to attract major investments and promote Tier-II cities as IT hubs. The decision was approved during a state-level meeting that cleared 19 industrial projects worth Rs 28,546 crore, including Rs 18,910 crore from the Adani Group and other investments from Reliance Consumer Products, Chinta Green Energy, and Raymond.

The agreement follows IT Minister Nara Lokesh’s discussions with Cognizant CEO S Ravi Kumar at the World Economic Forum in Davos. A similar initiative was undertaken earlier with TCS, which also received 21.16 acres at 99 paise to set up a Rs 1,370 crore campus in Vizag. The state targets Rs 40 trillion in investments and two million work opportunities by 2029.