The Prime Minister made three suggestions -- use of Indian languages in computers, application of IT for rural development and harnessing IT for citizen service to rectify the imbalances in the growth of information technology. ``The benefits of IT cannot remain confined to the well off and the English educated in urban areas,'' he said.

Addressing a gathering after inaugurating the ten-storeyed ``Cyber towers'' here, Vajpayee promised to push through the much-awaited reforms in telecommunications sector by removing all obstacles for foreign and domestic investment.

The Cyber towers forms part of the Hyderabad Information Technology Engineering Consultancy (Hi-Tec), a joint venture project of Andhra Pradesh government andLarsen & Toubro (L&T).

Governor C Rangarajan, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Union Minister of State for Urban Development Bandaru Dattatreya, Prime Minister's Secretary Brijesh Mishra, L&T CEO and Managing Director S D Kulkarni were among those present.

The Chief Minister formally announced development of Madhapur, where the Hi-Tec city is located, and the surrounding areas as ``Cyberabad''. The Prime Minister laid foundation stone for the second phase of the Hi-Tec city which would be named as ``Cyber Gates Towers''.

Showering encomiums on Naidu for his ``vision and commitment to IT'', Vajpayee said that the opening of Hi-Tec city would flag off Hyderabad's journey into ``a new era of progress, prosperity and global prestige'', while hoping that other states would learn from AP's experiences.

Stating that the Chief Minister's vision was turning Hyderabad into Cyberabad attracting the attention of IT industry around the globe, the Prime Minister said he was confident that AP itself would soonbecome ``Cyber Pradesh''.

Outlining the steps taken by his government for the promotion of IT, the Prime Minister said the Task Force set up by him had set a target of software exports of $ 50 billion by 2008. ``Some say it is an ambitious target, but I have no doubt that we will surpass this figure,'' he said.Vajpayee accused the previous governments of adopting wrong policies in telecommunications sector. ``We have inherited an extremely problematic legacy in the sector, which is most critical for progress in other IT areas,'' he explained.

``Unless we rapidly expand and modernise our telecom infrastructure to match the best in the world, India cannot become an IT superpower. My government has the necessary political will to end the deadlock in the sector,'' the Prime Minister told the gathering, which included a large number of IT professionals and CEOs.

Responding to Naidu's request for according deemed university status to the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) in Hyderabad, Vajpayeesaid he would consider it sympathetically. He also asked other states to set up similar IT institutes tied up with industry.

Naidu, who was praised by almost every speaker, thanked Vajpayee for setting up a Task Force on IT and accepting its recommendations within 30 days after submission of its report. ``I have been talking about IT for the last three years, but Vajpayeeji paid attention to me,'' he said. Naidu said that the construction of Cyber towers in a record 15 months time was a unique achievement for a government-private partnership venture. To promote the rapid growth of IT units in the area, he announced a new township called ``Cyberabad'' would be developed.

Rangarajan said that the doubts over the relevance of IT for an economy like India were no longer valid in view of the country's large pool of trained manpower and the ever increasing competition for global market. He asked the software engineers to find solutions to local needs. Dattatreya urged captains of IT to provide employment totrained local youth.

Kulkarni said that the Prime Minister's interest in IT sector would give a boost to the software exports. He appreciated the Chief Minister for extending tremendous cooperation in completing the project in a record time.

L&T president (operations) A Ramakrishna said a number of facilities like dedicated powerhouse would come up at Hi-Tec city. NASSCOM executive director Dewang Mehta said a recent survey conducted by the association found that AP was emerging as the main destination for investments in IT business.