HYDERABAD: Telangana IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao on Sunday highlighted the allround development of the state, the Hyderabad IT ecosystem, friendly industrial policies and investment opportunities existing in the State.
Delivering the keynote address at Harvard India Conference 2022 held virtually on Sunday under the theme "Turbocharging India @ 2030", the IT Minister said during the one-hour-long session: "If I want to talk about Turbocharging India @ 2030, I should speak about Turbocharging Telangana since 2014. By 2030, I want to witness an India that leads the world, in almost every category. I strongly believe that cues for 'Turbocharging India @ 2030' can be had from 'Turbocharged Telangana' since 2014."
He said that the schemes and policies being executed in Telangana should be executed across the country to speed up the development wheel of India. "What Telangana has done can be done at the national level too! Telangana model of development can be replicated across India for sure," Rama Rao said. He said that growth should be distributed fairly across society and create opportunities for all.
"I think that any one-sided policy emphasis will have negative effects. Diversity is India's greatest asset. The same diversity requires the widening of policy frameworks beyond the narrow focus," he opined.
Rama Rao said that the Telangana government's effective policy design and implementation, equal focus on rural and urban development, vision towards 3 Is - Infrastructure development, Inclusive growth and Innovation helped the youngest State of India achieve remarkable progress in just seven years.
"Telangana achieved the third rank in the country in terms of percentage increase in Gross State Domestic Produce (GSDP) at current prices between 2014-15 and 2020-21. The NITI Aayog report says that the Gross State Domestic Product of Telangana by provisional estimates was Rs 9.80 lakh crore, an increase of 94 percent from its 2014-15 value," Rama Rao said.
He highlighted that despite the Covid-induced economic slowdown in 2020-21, Telangana’s Per Capita Income (PCI) of Rs 2.37 lakh at current pricing is the third highest in the country - latest data from the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
The State government’s focus on every sector- from agriculture to IT, power generation to industry, health infrastructure to quality education has brought in remarkable progress in the state, he said. "Telangana attracted over Rs 2.2 lakh crore investments since the launch of its innovative TS-iPASS industrial policy. These investments employed about 16 lakh people," Rama Rao said.
"The cabins of the US President’s ‘Marine One’ helicopters are made in Hyderabad by Tata Sikorsky Aerospace Systems, a joint venture between the Tata Group and Sikorsky. Hyderabad produces one-third of global vaccine output. I take immense pride in saying that Hyderabad is the vaccine capital of the world," the Minister added.