Telangana Not Getting Enough Support Despite Performance, KTR Tells Centre

Minister KTR participated in PM Gati Shakti South Zone virtual Conference today. The conference was chaired by Union Road, Transport & Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari. During the conference, Minister KTR highlighted the achievements of Telangana state in the areas of Manufacturing, Pharmaceuticals, Handlooms & Textiles, Power, Coal and other sectors. The Minister also highlighted that 35% of global vaccine production takes place in Hyderabad.

"Telangana, the youngest State in the Country, is blessed with natural advantages in geographical resources, a world class skill-base, existing manufacturing practices and expertise, that have opened new opportunities for investments," said KTR.
 
Despite being a performing State, Telangana is not getting enough support from the Union Government, said Minister KTR, expressing unhappiness. He stated that performing States need to be incentivized.
 
Minister KTR stated that Hyderabad in Telangana has several decades of history of having a strong Defence related ecosystem. But the Union Government has given the defence corridor to Bundelkhand where no ecosystem exists and neither the firms, he stated.

The Minister once again made a strong pitch for a defence corridor for Telangana. He said that the State is a major hub for defence institutions such as DRDO, DRDL, DMRL, RSI, ANURAG, and in the recent past, many private defence companies have made Hyderabad a base.
 
“We submit that we are an automatic candidate for any defence corridor being considered as the state has a very conducive ecosystem in place,” he said. This will make international companies rethink their plans of moving to the new area with no ecosystem and might lose on the opportunity, he said.
  
Minister KTR said that Telangana is a landlocked State which is considered by few businesses as a hindrance for the free movement of goods. He highlighted the need for providing an exclusive cargo rail network to different ports with increased frequency. If additional financial incentives are sanctioned for the creation of logistic infrastructure, the State will set up dry ports, integrated and multi model logistics parks, he said.

Minister KTR also highlighted the need for better road, rail, and air network connectivity. He explained that the frequency of trains to the ports was a major problem that was being faced in spite of Hyderabad is well connected by train to all ports. He urged the Union Govt to consider increasing the frequency of trains for faster movement of goods.

The Minister informed that the running trains are often canceled owing to lesser load, often with little notice, creating uncertainty in the minds of exporters, who are being forced to use trucks as the mode of transport – which is significantly leading to increased logistic costs.
  
Minister KTR stated that the North-South Freight Corridor passes through Telangana without touching the Hyderabad region. As most of the logistic facilities, industrial clusters are in and around Hyderabad, it would be a win-win situation for all if the freight corridor passes through Hyderabad to unlock the increased possibilities and multimodal last mile transport, he added.
 
 Minister KTR opined that the ongoing flagship programme "Make in India" has become an "Assembly in India" programme. The Electronics as well as IT/ITeS sector have to be given a big push as not even a single chip is manufactured in India. The state has a clear candidature for any Electronic Manufacturing Cluster, and would definitely be able to host a plug and play facility, he said.
 
"If states like Telangana are encouraged, it would benefit the entire Indian growth rate, and can contribute significantly to meeting India’s export target," said Minister KTR.

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