Hyderabad: Telangana minister for IT and Industries KT Rama Rao (KTR) on Monday said that to develop the country, states have to be incentivised. He said that India has to “think big” to compete with foreign parties. “When Telangana can do it, why can’t the government of India think big?” he asked.
KTR also said there were five “revolutions” going on in the state. A green revolution, referring to growth in agriculture and food processing, a blue revolution in aquaculture with the establishment of the country’s largest aquahub in Hyderabad, a pink revolution of animal husbandry and meat processing, and a white revolution in terms of the dairy industry and a yellow revolution denoting growth in the production of edible oils.
KTR’s comments were made at the Industries Department’s launch of its annual Report 2021-2022. “Thanks to Telangana’s multi stake-holder approach, the state is growing by leaps and bounds. Telangana’s GSDP was Rs. 11.54 lakh crore with a growth rate of 19.1%. Our share in the national GDP has increased to 5.0%,” the IT and industries minister added..
“There was a time in 2014 when the state was newly formed, the industrial ecosystem was in trouble. Eight years later, wherever we go, we are always mentioned in the same breath as some of the most progressive states of the country,” said KTR about the progress in Telangana.
He said that no other chief minister in the country has had the “guts, gumption and audacity” to take industrial red tape head-on. “We developed the TS iPass, introduced deemed approvals, and many other ways to escape the paperwork and clearances that an interested investor would have to work through” KTR.
The IT minister said that in the last seven years, Telangana has received Rs 2.32 lakh crores in investments, processed 19,000 clearances, and generated 1.6 million jobs. “We will work to encourage the smallest entrepreneurs for the state, nano-preneurs, Agri-preneurs, street-preneurs and also Dalit entrepreneurs,” he added.
Adding that infrastructure is very important, KTR said that India is still a third world country. “If Telangana, the youngest state in India can create the world’s largest pharma cluster, textile park, and medical devices park, why can’t the government of India think on the same scale?” he asked.
He added that the government of India has to incentivise well-performing states to encourage entrepreneurs and industrialists. “If the PM truly believes in co-operative federalism, states have to be incentivised. Strong states will create a strong country,” he said.
KTR added that the centre has to support states irrespective of their political affiliations. “Sure, we will criticise. We are a democracy and it is necessary for growth. Economics has to take centre stage, and politics has to take a back seat,” he expressed.
Key statistics from the report
Telangana through TS-iPASS attracted INR 17,867 crores of investment in FY 2021-22 through 3938 new industries and created employment for 96,863 people. It attracted cumulative investments of Rs 2,32,311 Cr creating 16.48 lakh jobs.
TSIIC developed 13 new Industrial Parks and allotted 810 acres of land to 526 industries with an expected investment of Rs 6,123 cr and employment of 5626 during FY2021-22.
Life Sciences and Pharma – sector attracted 215 investment proposals in 2021-22 worth Rs 6,400 cr, with proposed employment of 34,000.
Food Processing – Telangana state food processing policy was approved with an objective to encourage the creation of food processing enterprises across 10,000 acres of special food processing zones.
Automotive Sector – the government of Telangana launched the Electric Vehicle and Energy Storage Systems policy in Sept 2020, post which the government has signed up with many domestic and international companies and the total projected investment figure is upwards of Rs 5000 cr.
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