BRS seeks Centre’s push for Telangana rail, Tier-2 IT projects
A BRS delegation led by KT Rama Rao met Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, seeking faster implementation of key railway projects in Telangana and support for reviving the State's Tier-2 IT ecosystem through AI centres, STPI facilities and enhanced digital infrastructure.
Hyderabad: The BRS sought the Centre’s intervention to expedite key railway projects in Telangana and revive the State’s Tier-2 IT ecosystem. A delegation led by the party’s working president KT Rama Rao on Tuesday met Union Railways and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in New Delhi and submitted representations in this regard.
Later addressing the media in New Delhi, Rama Rao said the delegation had placed Telangana’s interests above politics and submitted detailed representations on railway infrastructure and information technology projects. He accused the Congress government of stalling several initiatives launched during the previous BRS regime.
Among the key demands was the creation of a Kazipet Railway Division as part of the ongoing reorganisation of the South Central Railway. The BRS proposed that the division comprise the Kazipet-Ballarshah, Peddapalli-Nizamabad, Kazipet-Errupalem, Dornakal-Manuguru, Motumarri-Vishnupuram and Kazipet-Vangapalli sections, covering nearly 2,000 track kilometres.
Rama Rao argued that the proposal was justified when compared with the existing Guntur Division, which has around 900 km, and the Vijayawada and Guntakal divisions, each covering about 2,200 km. He said railway employees were also supporting the demand and urged the Centre to examine the proposal for a Kothagudem Railway Division as well.
He also pressed for expediting the 151-km Manoharabad-Siddipet-Sircilla-Vemulawada-Kothapalli broad gauge railway line, terming it a long-pending aspiration of the people of Telangana. The first 76-km stretch from Manoharabad to Siddipet was completed and commissioned on October 3, 2023, during the BRS government after the State provided land free of cost for acquisition, right of way and agreed to bear one-third of the project cost. “However, work on the remaining 75-km stretch had slowed after the Congress assumed office,” he added.
Quoting the Union Minister and a reply given by the Centre in Parliament, the BRS working president said the project had been delayed because the State government was yet to release Rs 511 crore towards its share and complete the acquisition of 96 hectares of land. He stated that the project cost had escalated from Rs 1,160 crore to Rs 2,780 crore due to the delay.
The BRS also urged the Centre to include the Sircilla and Vemulawada railway stations under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, construct a rail-cum-road bridge across the Mid Manair reservoir on the lines of the Dhavaleswaram bridge, fully electrify the Kothapalli-Manoharabad railway line and constitute a high-level coordination committee involving the Railways and the Telangana government for regular monitoring of projects.
On the IT front, Rama Rao said the BRS government expanded the sector beyond Hyderabad by introducing the Rural Technology Centres Policy and GRID Policy in 2020, setting up IT towers in eight districts, including Warangal, Karimnagar, Khammam, Nizamabad, Mahabubnagar, Siddipet, Adilabad and Nalgonda.
“The policy helped companies such as Cyient and Tech Mahindra establish operations in Warangal, but the momentum had weakened over the past two years, with lower occupancy in IT towers and some companies scaling down operations,” he remarked.
Pointing out that Telangana had 9.46 lakh IT jobs during the BRS tenure and that employment had since declined, the former IT Minister sought the Centre’s support to revive Tier-2 IT growth. He requested the establishment of an India AI Centre or India AI Data Lab in Warangal, an STPI Centre of Entrepreneurship focusing on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, semiconductor design and deep-tech in Karimnagar or Khammam, besides another STPI centre in a Tier-2 city.
Rama Rao also urged the Centre to leverage Telangana’s existing IT towers, T-Fiber network and policy framework to expand national AI and digital innovation programmes into district headquarters. He said strengthening Telangana’s Tier-2 cities would not only generate employment locally and reduce migration to Hyderabad and Bengaluru but also contribute to the Centre’s vision of balanced digital growth under the PM Gati Shakti initiative.
BRS Rajya Sabha members Vaddiraju Ravichandra, Divakonda Damodar Rao and former Minister G Jagadish Reddy were also part of the delegation.
