Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has just concluded his third foreign visit since assuming office last December and, within a day after his return, announced the final tranche of crop loan waivers, fulfilling a major poll promise. On the face of it, it reflects a fine balance between welfare and development.
His visit to the US and South Korea underlined the government’s proactive approach to burnish the image of Hyderabad as an attractive investment destination. If one goes by the memorandums inked during the tour, the state has been promised investments of up to Rs 31,532 crore. Seen together with the other MoUs signed earlier in his stint, the potential investments are over Rs 81,564 crore. Even if half of them materialise, we can consider the chief minister’s efforts successful.
For that to happen, the government should put in place a mechanism to expedite approvals. The previous BRS regime was also proactive in attracting investors, domestic and foreign, with the then IT minister K T Rama Rao setting a benchmark. It brought in the TS-iPass system for speedy clearances. The Revanth Reddy government ought to improve on it as it is contemplating a new industrial policy. It needs to look at corruption prevalent in the lower levels for the state to consistently top the ease-of-doing-business rankings. It will give more confidence to investors.
On the flip side, the CM’s US visit courted unnecessary controversy with the BRS accusing Revanth of signing an agreement with Swachh Bio, one of whose directors happens to be his own brother. There may be nothing wrong in it from a business perspective, but it raises questions about conflict of interest.
The government needs to be very transparent in its dealings. The other criticism is that Revanth and the team could not meet top business honchos in the US. Did his support staff fall short? In our view, it is unfair to say so, as a lot of effort has gone into organising the meetings.
Nonetheless, these things have given an opening to the opposition to term the tour a flop. The problem for the government lies in communication. It has failed in properly conveying to the people what the CM’s team has achieved. Even the Congress has not been able to effectively counter the opposition onslaught. The CM needs to focus as much on communication as on investors.
