Telangana's industry minister KT Rama Rao slammed the Union government on Friday for not extending financial support for the state since its inception. He said the Union government has been unjust even though Telangana has performed well in all sectors, and that the Union government has neither supported the state nor allotted funds for projects. The minister was addressing the annual meeting of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Telangana Council.
He said that Atmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India initiatives were mere slogans, and pointed out how state projects such as the Pharma City and Kakatiya Mega Textiles Park projects could help boost self-reliance but have not received support from the Union government.
The Minister said that policies like TS-iPASS attracted major investments to the state. He said that through the policy, 15,000 companies were set up, creating about 15 lakh jobs in the region. A total of about Rs 2,00,000 crore investment was brought to the state through TS-iPass and states have emulated this policy, he added.
"In the past six years, the Telangana government has received recognition from across the world for its innovative and progressive policies. Though many global companies in IT, pharma, life sciences, aerospace and defence sectors have invested in Telangana, the Centre never encouraged the state,” said KTR.
He pointed out that Telangana has been among the top states in the Ease of Doing Business ranks consecutively for the past six years, and that the state topped gross state domestic product (GSDP) growth in the country.
KTR said that whenever union ministers come to Telangana, they praise the welfare and development of the state but never give funds. He alleged that the BJP-led NDA Government failed to fulfil the assurances given to Telangana under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.
He said that promises made to Telangana such as setting up a steel plant, a railway coach factory and educational institutions have been completely ignored. He added the Union government demonstrated its opposition to Telangana when it announced that the establishment of Kazipet Railway Coach Factory was not necessary.
Apart from this, he added that the Centre is not responding to Telangana’s requests to strengthen the railway network. The construction of eight railway lines is pending and the survey of another three lines is yet to begin.
Despite the Telangana government's assurance about providing all kinds of assistance, he added there is no response from the Union government on setting up the Bayyaram Steel Factory.
KTR, who also holds the portfolio of information technology, said the Union government also cancelled the Information Technology and Investment Region (ITIR) for Hyderabad which was sanctioned before the formation of the state. This has stifled the growth of the IT industry, investments and job creation.
He said there was an overwhelming response to the two electronic manufacturing clusters (EMCs) set up in Hyderabad, but the Union government has not yet decided on Telangana's request of setting up an additional EMC.
He added that Telangana initiated the Hyderabad Pharma City project, but there has been no support from the Union government and did not respond to Telangana's repeated requests for fund allocation of Rs 3,900 crore for Pharma City infrastructure.
The Union Government, instead of extending help to Pharma City, introduced a new scheme called Pharma Park Scheme which created unnecessary competition among 19 states and wasted valuable time, he alleged.
He said that despite having an excellent aerospace and defence ecosystem in Hyderabad, Telangana has not been allotted any of the Defence Industrial Corridors initiated by the Union government. "Bundelkhand in Uttar Pradesh, which has no ecosystem, has been given a defence corridor. This proves that the BJP Government is giving priority to politics over industrial development. Repeated requests to allot the Defence Industrial Corridor to Telangana, which has all the infrastructure, were ignored,” he said.
KTR said the Union government announced a mega-cluster policy under which the Telangana government requested assistance to develop the Kakatiya Mega Textile Park but there was no response.
He went on to point out that the Union government did not respond when a dry port was asked to be set up in the state. He said that when compared to 2019-20, Telangana in 2020-21 has seen 15.5% growth in exports. Telangana plays a key role in exports, yet the centre remained unwilling to set up a dry port, he added.
With IANS inputs