You just returned from the US trip. You have earlier worked as a minister and governance is not new to you. But IT, because of the prominence it has assumed in the last 10 years, after assuming charge, how did you feel about it? You went to Davos too. What is their perception of Hyderabad?
Hyderabad has a great advantage because of the ecosystem that has been created for the past three decades. In the past 10 years, too much hype was created, not much work was done.
We should not forget history. In 1992, the then Andhra Pradesh government took keen interest in promoting software. We laid the foundation stone for the software technology park. From there it evolved. Later the TDP came into governance and they had taken it further. From 2004 to 2014, so many software companies have come here. We did not publicise our achievements in a great way. We had sown the seeds and we are reaping the fruits now.
Still there is a big gap between Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Someone might say your state is too ambitious but ultimately we have to beat Karnataka in terms of exports. The government’s aim is to see that we take the lead in terms of technology. Now, all disruptive technologies are playing a major role — AI, data analytics, cybersecurity … In some field, we have to take the lead. That’s the reason we chose AI, which is trying to occupy space in all spheres of human life. The best of grey matter is here in Hyderabad.
But we do not have an original company like Google …
That’s why we thought of AI startups, AI R&D, AI Centre of Excellence … This is our time. Everyone is looking at India, and Hyderabad too. When the chief minister and I went to the US, inviting industrial partners to make investments here, they were keen to know about how Hyderabad is trying to invite AI players. This is where we have to take a leap before some other state or country does so. As you said, the big companies make products here. Our vision is that if we sow the seed now, then from Hyderabad itself, a big organisation will emerge.
Is there a bureaucratic hurdle?
In a political democracy, there will be some red-tapism, hurdles. But here in Telangana, if that is the case with any of the officers in my department, we shall see that they will be replaced immediately. A proactive officer should be there in the department of Industries and IT. We have to compete with the world now.
On investments from Foxconn, Amara Raja, etc., the BRS has been criticising the government.
We would like to answer our opponents by our actions. They told so many things about Foxconn. It is the Foxconn chairman who had come down to the CM’s residence and stated that he was so positive to further invest in Telangana. That is the answer for political critics like KTR. Secondly, on the day when Foxconn expressed its willingness almost …that was one more vertical that they are going to start in Karnataka. That doesn’t mean they are not going to do it over here.
When the Amara Raja batteries chairman had made a comment, we were so patient. We know in what circumstances he would have made the statement. The next minute, our political opponents reacted … KTR tweeted. But we have proved them wrong by our actions. The Amara Raja chairman then himself came down to my office and told us that the government is so proactive. Further, he told us that Amara Raja got so much positive response from the government. That itself addresses their criticism.
There is not much pushback from the government. During the US tour too, the government landed in a controversy because of Swachh Bio...
There is no controversy at all. A controversy has been created. When our officers did some sort of due diligence, our officers found that this company has got eight patents over the past 17 years. They have got a new technology that is not there in the world in terms of producing ethanol. Swachh Bio’s technology is being sought by many countries. If somebody is related to the CM, will it stop a relative who has been there in the US for the past 30 years and in the business for the past 20-25 years, and who would like to make an investment in the state?
The TPCC organised a protest after the recent Hindenburg report. Its earlier report was considered much more damning. It talked about brazen accounting fraud done by the Adani group. You have said that you would welcome any investment in Telangana. Does it extend to a group that Rahul Gandhi has been vocal against?
Rahul Gandhi has been saying that the resources of the country should not be cornered by one or two companies. That was his main intention. He was not personally against Adani. After the Hindenburg report, we have also protested. Regarding SEBI … nothing has been coming out of the past 17-18 months, so there was a protest.
If Adani or Ambani or X or Y or Z makes application for building an industry, on what grounds can I reject it? If there is a conclusion by the Supreme Court and some sort of report comes up against, then we can say so. But at this juncture, if someone wants to invest Rs 100 crore or Rs 200 crore, then I cannot reject it because that is not the law.
You signed deals with four Adani group companies at Davos. Have the investments materialised?
The Adani investments have not materialised as of now because we are going to have a new power policy. Based on the new power policy, the extent of investment would be determined.
During your Davos visit, you entered into MoUs worth Rs 40,232 crore and during the US visit, you entered into deals worth Rs 31,500 crore. Out of this, has anything materialised?
No, a few are in the pipeline. A few have given presentations, applications, Rs 10,000–15,000 crore investment is in the process. If a company signs a $1 billion MoU, that doesn’t mean they are going to give it in a year. In some cases, they will be putting it in tranches, four or five or six years depending on their financial position.
Will a new industrial policy be introduced?
Yes. In terms of industrial policy, we are looking at the aviation industry to come up in a big way. We are also looking at the defence sector because of the ecosystem here. Immediately after Independence, this has been a strategic location for defence, be it R&D or production. HAL, DRDO are there… and so many ancillary industries around HAL. Now private firms are allowed to enter defence and aerospace, so we would like to encourage them.
Thirdly, green or non-conventional energy is also important. The CM and the deputy CM are also trying to come up with a new energy policy which can encourage green energy in a big way. We are also looking at the textile industry. Now that Youngone, the South Korean corporation, is already in Warangal … the other day, during our visit to South Korea, we appealed to them to invest more and they are coming forward to do so.
All these years, we have never had an MSME policy. To come up with an MSME policy, our officers have gone to seven-eight states that have a vibrant policy. In the manufacturing sector, certainly we can say that Tamil Nadu is the best. Coming to shop-floor personnel, women are so well trained there. In all manufacturing sectors in Tamil Nadu, 50% of those employed are women. Keeping that in view, we will come up with a vibrant MSME policy in September. Its final draft is almost ready and it is now being vetted by our ministry and also the chief minister.
We recently carried a series of stories on ITIs across Telangana. Their condition is pathetic
We have just started. We are now renaming them as Advanced Technology Centres. We are infusing Rs 2,400 crore with the help of the Tata group company, which is one of the major sponsors. After seeing one of the reports published by your newspaper on ITIs, I was speaking to the labour commissioner. He told me the articles will be rebutted after two years.
We were concerned about the students there...
Absolutely, I do agree. I have an ITI in my constituency. Around 10 batches of students have come out but we weren’t able to place them in good organisations. They lack skills required by the industry, there is a skill gap. If you see the Mallepally ITI now, we have put all the latest machines, the robotic ones. So many trades at ITIs such as electrician, painting, carpentry, etc., have been continuing in the same way for the past 30–40 years without looking at what the industry needs, how they were getting modernised. There was a skill gap and that needs to be fixed, that is the responsibility of the government
The second skill initiative, before we thought of the skill university, is the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector. We are going to announce it soon. The CM and I had a good dialogue with a BFSI consortium. We told them that we produce a lakh and above engineering students, so many BCom students. We had a lot of deliberations. All the big multinational bank heads had come. We had asked them to put a curriculum module in BCom and engineering second year with their teaching staff coming and training the students. By the time they finish their graduation, they would be absorbed in the BFSI sector. They said the starting salary would be Rs 25,000. We have selected a few colleges. Initially, around 2,000 students would be getting trained. By next year, we will be scaling up to 10,000. There will be a job guarantee for them.
Recently, the skill university Bill was passed. We saw a document that said the average fee is Rs 50,000–60,000. What exactly is the vision? ISB is not for the common people.
The skill university would be for everybody, from the shop floor to the highest technology. We are not restricting it to the software industry. If somebody wants to get trained as an electrician or plumber, it is open for them too. Class 10 and Class 12 dropouts, if they want to pursue such courses, we will train them as per industry needs. A plumber trained here properly can earn Rs 2–3 lakh if he goes to the Middle East.
We want to do this professionally and ensure Hyderabad becomes the skill capital. This year, seven industry partners have come to train students in seven verticals including pharma and construction. Unlike ISB, we are catering to everyone. For the underprivileged and socially disadvantaged, the CM has pointed out that we will give fee reimbursement.
Do you have plans to encourage lithium battery manufacturing?
Yes, many players are interested in this sector, including Foxconn. Two startups have come forward and are making good progress; youngsters around the age of 21 are making strides. I know four or five young men from different professional backgrounds who came together for this initiative. They get the raw materials from South America. We like to encourage such initiatives because this creates an ecosystem for innovation. The time for Electric Vehicles (EV) is now. After this we will delve into the next level of tech — hydrogen.
HYDRAA’s demolition drive has stirred up controversies especially since in several cases, permissions for construction were given by previous governments. Won’t this all end up in courts and fizzle out? More importantly, won’t it discourage investors?
The point here is that Hyderabad was the city of lakes. The farmhouses that some individuals built within the FTL of Gandipet lake are releasing sewage into the lake, which is a source of water for people. How can we tolerate that? How can anyone tolerate that? So, the government thought that it is high time for action. When someone asked CM Revanth Reddy on where he sees himself and his government one year, five years and 10 years from now, he simply replied, “We need to use the opportunity that God has given to do good work for the common person.” Speaking about the demolitions, I would like to point out that a senior Congress leader’s structure was also razed. So no, we are not vindictive towards anybody. We want to make sure the environment is good and the purity of water is maintained.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi asked if the government will demolish Necklace Road, claiming that it falls within the FTL of Hussainsagar. Owaisi also alleged that the GHMC building is constructed on a pond.
The government has just started the exercise. The residents of Hyderabad, Secunderabad and Cyberabad mainly get drinking water from Himayatsagar and Osmansagar. When these are polluted by sewage water, the first task is to control that. We have to make sure the sewage water doesn’t flow into drinking water sources. This is what we are concentrating on.
What about penalising the encroachers?
Right now, we just want to stop the drain water from flowing into reservoirs. We have never thought of penalising people. Some officers during another government’s tenure may have permitted construction and middle class and upper middle class families bought flats without realising that their apartment falls within some FTL. It is not their fault but that of the developer and the person concerned in the municipal corporation at the time. We must identify and see how to punish them. People should not suffer.
You said that Hyderabad has been doing better in IT than Bengaluru in recent years. There has also been an increase in GCCs. This means more people, more families and more schools will also be built. But Bengaluru has seen infrastructural challenges. Is there a lesson to be learnt from there?
Yes, absolutely. We are not far behind Bengaluru in terms of technology. The best brains are in Hyderabad. We will take the lead in times to come. As regards the bad examples there, be it about mobility, drinking water, city planning, we have kept these in mind. We have ORR, Metro and an international airport, which you can reach from any nook and corner of the city in an hour. Though we have these advantages, our government is now focusing on development in the north, south, east and west of the city. If there is balance, there will be no mobility problems or water issues. In 2005, when YS Rajasekhara Reddy started the Outer Ring Road, I was a second-time MLA. I remember being on the floor of the House and people criticising the initiative, asking why so much capex is going into infrastructure. But ORR is so useful today. And now, we are planning RRR and people will again question why around Rs 25,000 crore is being spent on it. If we have RRR, villages, Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities will develop.
People have pointed out that the government is focusing only in and around Hyderabad for IT but the BRS had encouraged investments in districts as well, starting IT hubs there too. What will be the fate of these hubs now?
Except Khammam, those IT hubs are almost empty. Our vision is to take IT to Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. It is my responsibility to incentivise and drive software companies and people to the already created hubs.
Sooner than later, a new PCC president is going to be appointed by the AICC. Your name was also among the probables.
It is a national party and we go by a system. Before selecting any candidate, there is a lot of vetting. The party will take opinions from the grassroots to the top leadership. The intelligence wing of the Congress will be having an opinion on who would be best. Whoever the AICC leadership selects, we will go by it.
Will you accept it if it is offered to you?
I don’t stand a chance being a minister. I think the AICC will always think of a person who can work full-time for the party.
Why were you not interested in the PCC chief post in 2014?
I know my limitations, my plus and minus points. There was a time, there was an opportunity. I just thought about it. But later it did not get concluded.
BRS working president KT Rama Rao alleged that your party got money from Karnataka through the Valmiki scam to fund your party for the elections.
It is ridiculous and absolutely nonsensical. The ED had the Valmiki scam on its radar. Certain people were arrested and a minister was ousted too. We are not part of that.
You represent Manthani constituency. Some of the key components of the Kaleshwaram project are there. We know the politics of it but what really went wrong?
Wrong planning and poor execution. Look, an engineer has to do engineering. A politician must do policymaking. A journalist must do journalism. Now if I, Sridhar Babu, did journalism, how would that pan out? Simply put, the dam which had to be constructed by engineers was designed by the then CM.
Speaking of Manthani, former prime minister PV Narasimha Rao also represented the segment. Any personal memories?
He was a great visionary and leader. I learnt a lot from him even in the little interactions we had. He would talk about development, welfare, global issues and how India should be on the world stage. We cannot compare him with anybody; he was stupendous. We are so proud that he was from Manthani constituency.
TNIE team: Kalyan Tholeti, Prasanna RS, VV Balakrishna, Ireddy Srinivas Reddy, B Kartheek, Ravinder Reddy, Nitika Krishna, Ajay Tomar