KT Rama Rao urges Australia to consider Hyderabad for setting up Consulate General office

Hyderabad: IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao urged the Australia Government to consider Hyderabad for opening a Consulate General office. This will further strengthen the trade, educational, travel relationships between Hyderabad and Australia, he said. The US Consul General in Hyderabad is issuing the largest number of visas in the entire world and not […]

Hyderabad: IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao urged the Australia Government to consider Hyderabad for opening a Consulate General office. This will further strengthen the trade, educational, travel relationships between Hyderabad and Australia, he said.

The US Consul General in Hyderabad is issuing the largest number of visas in the entire world and not just India. In fact student visas to the US are the highest from Hyderabad. The UK is not very far behind, Rama Rao said, making a case for Australia setting up its Consul General in Hyderabad.

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“Hyderabad is the best city in South India. It is not me saying this but global consulting firm Mercer ranked Hyderabad as the top city, not just in South India, but in the entire country for years in a succession,” he said.

Speaking at an event to launch ‘An update to an India Economic Strategy to 2035: Navigating from Potential to Delivery,’ organised by the Australian Consulate-General in Chennai on Monday in Hyderabad, Rama Rao suggested Australia to engage individually with States as well, not just New Delhi, while investing.

“When it comes to doing business in India, the experience changes depending on the gateway an Australian company chooses to enter India. For instance, if they chose Hyderabad, their experience would be different compared to entering another State. India is a union of States and each State has its own strengths. Land, water, power and other infra as well daily affairs are handled by the respective States. For instance, our sister-state AP has a huge coastline, which Telangana does not. So, each State will pitch to their strengths. When we launched our industrial policy, we have kept in mind the apprehensions of the international investor community,” he said.

About 19,000 applications with investment commitment of about Rs 2.7 lakh crore and a direct employment potential of 16 lakh have been handled through the single window clearance system TS-iPASS. About 24 per cent of these investments have been repeat investments. Telangana has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with King’s College London in connection with the proposed Pharma University at the Hyderabad Pharma City, which the State is on the verge of launching in about 19,000 acre, the biggest pharma manufacturing cluster in the world. It will involve exploring collaborative research projects, staff and student exchanges, as well as curriculum development and upskilling, he said adding that life sciences is the focus area for Telangana as Hyderabad makes a third of human vaccines made in the world.

Hyderabad can be an ideal hub for Australian companies. Telangana will explore two-way interactions in startups, academia, education, and other fields, he said.