Telangana needs industrial corridors: KTR
Seeks Centre's support to Pharma City, Kaleshwaram Project, Electronic manufacturing clusters.
Hyderabad: Even as the preparations are on for the Central Budget to be presented on February 1, Telangana Industries and IT Minister KT Rama Rao made a fervent appeal to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal to consider progressive States like Telangana and announce some big ticket projects.
Though the Government had earlier announced some big industrial corridors, they have not gone through Hyderabad or Telangana or other southern States. “…this all boils down to the numbers we have. The Centre is not looking at us we have only 17 (MPs). They would have looked at us if we had 80,” he said adding that pleas from Telangana for support to existing projects like the Pharma City, the Kaleshwaram project and other projects too have not been heard.
“Kaleshwaram Project is the largest multi-stage irrigation project. Nowhere in the world has this kind of project completed in three years. Telangana did it thanks to the vision of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao,” said Rao adding that the Telangana was hoping for the right support to come from the Government of India.
Hyderabad was touted to get the Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) to attract investments. The ITIR was promised to Telangana in 2014 and Telangana had been pursing with the Centre for approving the project. However, even that project has not seen light of the day even today, he said.
While an industrial corridor, DMIC, is connecting Delhi and Mumbai, no similar things are conceived to connect Hyderabad and other southern cities, KTR said adding that the Telangana has been asking industrial corridors connecting Hyderabad and Nagpur, Bengaluru, Ramagundam and Warangal. These would usher in more development of the region, he said.
“Many companies are looking to exit China or set up their manufacturing in India. If we were to tap such opportunities, we need to have scale. Pharma City is one such cluster Telangana is creating in 19,000 acre. In conceiving this project, we not only thought of Telangana but also of India’s interests. This will allow reap the economies of scale. The Kakatiya Textile Park is the biggest textile park in India in the making. Telangana has three electronic manufacturing clusters and they are all full. We are seeking new clusters but the Centre is not allowing them,” the Industries Minister said on Saturday at an awards function organised by industry body FTCCI.
Though a third of the vaccines needed for the world are being made in Hyderabad, there is no vaccine testing centre here. They have to be carried out at Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh, which is at a distance of 1,200 km, from the vaccine making hub of Hyderabad. He urged the Centre to set up a vaccine testing centre here. This is the second time that in the recent days that KTR has stressed on need for setting up a vaccine testing facility here to strengthen the life sciences ecosystem.
“Telangana has been growing in spite of not getting the required support from the Centre. We will continue to grow, bring reforms and create new benchmarks,” he said.
Power and water
Industries did not have power and were forced to take a power holiday for two days in a week seven years ago, when the new State Telangana was formed. This affected the employment opportunities of several labour. But now Telangana is a power surplus State. With Kaleshwaram Project, the State has also secured the water needs till 2050, he said adding that Telangana did take any vindictive approach and ensured that Hyderabad retained the cosmopolitan fabric, KTR said.
Power apart, the State’s focus was on ensuring law and order and reviving the industries.
Agriculture
Apart from making significant progress in IT, the State is also stamping its authority in rice production. Now, Telangana boasts of highest rice cultivation and it has also started tapping the rice export opportunities. The State is focusing on getting the basics right in education and health and the maternal mortality rate has come down significantly, he said.
Industry approvals
The State has given approvals through the TS-iPASS to about 13,800 units. This would mean employment opportunities to about 14 lakh people, the Minister. The State did not bring out negative legislation that makes it mandatory to appoint locals. Instead, it was giving additional incentives to encourage companies to create local employment. The State will also train the local youth in the skill sets at no cost to the companies.
The State would make efforts to clear the pending incentives to the industries, he said adding that about Rs 1,500 crore was allocated in 2020 for the same but the finances have gone haywire due to the Covid. The State will also soon come out with new models of industrial incentives. It will also come up with a `Blue Book’, which will be ready reckoner for investors to get into collaborations.
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