The political uncertainty over the future of Hyderabad is causing concern to the information technology (IT) sector, a major growth engine that put the city on the global IT map.

In the midst of the turmoil over the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh (AP) with Hyderabad becoming the bone of contention, IT professionals have come together and formed a joint action committee (JAC) to strive towards bringing back the glory of Hyderabad as an IT hub.

“Brand Hyderabad” has clearly lost its sheen in the recent times due to political uncertainties, agitations and counter-agitations.

The Hyderabad IT Employees’ JAC has adopted a slogan, “save IT, save Hyderabad”, and appealed to the political parties not to tarnish the city’s image. “Otherwise the city will disappear from the global IT map and future generations will suffer,” cautioned the JAC chairman M Brahmaiah.

Hyderabad is home to about 750 IT and ITES companies, including global giants like Microsoft, Google, IBM, Oracle, DELL, Motorola and Deloitte, employing over 2.50 lakh people. The city is ranked fourth in the country in terms of software exports.

However, IT professionals say that the state had to pay a heavy price since 2009 due to agitations. “The IT exports from the state, which was Rs 31,039 crore in 2008-09, dipped to Rs 27,666 crore in the next financial year. There was a slight increase in the subsequent years as the industry felt confident that normalcy would be restored,” said the JAC convener N Raju. The latest exports figure stood at Rs 30,000 crore.

Meanwhile, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu (TN) and Maharashtra have benefitted from Hyderabad’s woes. TN’s IT exports grew from Rs 38,356 crore in 2008-09 to Rs 49,081 crore in 2011-12, Karnataka’s from Rs 70,375 crore to Rs 82,110 crore and Maharashtra’s from Rs 42,361 crore to Rs 46,262 crore.

The JAC has also decided to launch ITism–IT in social media–to bring awareness among the IT professionals and also the public about the need to protect the interests of the industry.Already, few IT companies have shifted their base to the neighbouring states due to policy lethargy in AP.