The Andhra Pradesh government will develop a 'Media City' here with the ultimate objective of making Hyderabad the "animation capital of the world", information technology and communications minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah said on Tuesday.

"The vision of the Andhra Pradesh Government is to develop a futuristic Digital City that will serve as an epicentre of research and development as well as production of animation and gaming-related technology in the Indian subcontinent.

"The most valuable part of Animation City will be to serve as an incubator/springboard for developing an entertainment technology-based eco system," he said.

The Minister was addressing a workshop on animation and gaming organised by the state IT&C department in Hyderabad.

"In view of the emergence of animation and gaming sector in India and to tap large market segment, both domestic and international, government of andhra pradesh is taking every measure to be on top in the country and make Hyderabad the animation capital of the world."

The proposed Media City would be spread across 30 acres at Raidurg, close to the Hi-Tech City. It would be in line with international media cities in Manchester (United Kingdom), Montreal (Canada) and Dubai (UAE), Lakshmaiah said.

It would have academic institutions, an incubation centre, where state-of-the-art "walk to work" and "plug and play" built-up office space would be provided to first- generation technocrat entrepreneurs, he added.

"We are in a process of initiating the Expression of Interest (EoI) from various consultants for design and development of the Media City," the Minister said.

State IT Secretary Sanjay Jaju and representatives of the industry attended the workshop.