Telangana’s minister for information technology and industries K.T. Rama Rao has received an invitation to attend the prestigious World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting 2022, which will take place in Davos-Klosters from 17 to 21 January.

Appreciating the work of the minister, WEF President Borge Brende sent him the invitation.

“Your leadership and commitment to transforming Telangana into a leading technology powerhouse is noteworthy. As India emerges from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, its ability to quickly adapt to innovation and emerging technologies will be vital for a sustainable economic recovery. Your insights on harnessing emerging technologies for common good will be key to the discussions at the Annual Meeting,” the WEF president wrote.

He also stated that it is essential for the world’s foremost political, business, and civil society leaders to come together once again to restore trust in the ability to shape the future in collaborative ways.

Minister KTR expressed happiness over receiving an invitation to the prestigious WEF annual meeting. “I see this invitation as a recognition of Telangana government’s initiatives in the fields of information technology, industry, and innovation,” he said.

Rejecting allegations of Telangana Congress chief Revanth Reddy linking him to the drugs racket, State Minister K.T. Rama Rao on Saturday said he was ready to give samples for drug tests and asked whether Congress leader Rahul Gandhi too would give samples for the same.

Rama Rao took strong exception to Revanth Reddy’s allegation. “How am I connected to this (drugs case). I will give blood, hair, and even liver samples. Will Rahul Gandhi too give his samples?,” he asked the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president.

In an informal chat with reporters, KTR reacted strongly to Revanth Reddy’s allegation that he has become a brand ambassador for drugs in the state.

He warned that the government will not hesitate to book cases against those making baseless allegations. Referring to the case booked against central minister Narayan Rane for slap remark against Maharashtra chief minister, KTR said Telangana government will also start booking those making baseless allegations and using objectionable words against the chief minister. He said if needed such leaders will be booked for sedition.

“We have history of all the leaders. How a person who used to work as a painter acquired four houses in Jubliee Hills,” KTR asked apparently referring to Revanth Reddy.

The minister said leaders of Congress party themselves have claimed that Revanth Reddy bought the post of TPCC president for Rs 50 crore. “Will a person who purchased PCC chief’s post will not sell MLA tickets tomorrow?” he asked.

The TRS leader also reacted to allegations made by union home minister Amit Shah during a public meeting at Nirmal on Friday. “No one is afraid of MIM. It’s BJP which is scared,” he said while reacting to Shah’s remark that TRS government is afraid of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM).

On BJP leader’s demand to celebrate September 17 as ‘Telangana Liberation Day’, the minister said TRS would not support any attempts to target one particular community. He pointed out that TRS as a political party celebrated September 17 as Merger Day.

“For us June 2 is Liberation Day because it was on this that Telangana came into being as a state after a long struggle,” he said.

KTR wanted to know what BJP MPs from Telangana have done for the state. He remarked that ‘Dilli parties are doing silly politics’.

He said people know why new parties have come up in the state. He wondered why YSR Telangana Party leader Y.S. Sharmila and BSP leader Praveeen Kumar were not speaking about Congress and BJP.

Three companies have come forward to set up jute mills in Telangana with a cumulative investment of Rs 887 crore.

The proposed jute mills will provide direct employment to 10,400 people.

Gloster Ltd, MBG Commodities Pvt Ltd, and Kaleshwaram Agro Pvt Ltd on Friday signed separate MoUs with the state government, in the presence of state ministers K.T.Rama Rao, Singireddy Niranjan Reddy, and Gangula Kamalakar.

Gloster Ltd will invest about Rs 330 crore to set up a jute mill in Warangal district. The investment is will create 3,400 direct employment opportunities in the region.

MBG Commodities will invest about Rs 254 crore to set up a modern integrated jute mill in Rajanna Sircilla district. This will generate approximately 3,400 direct jobs.

Kaleshwaram Agro Pvt Ltd, will set up a modern integrated jute mill in Kamareddy district with an investment of about Rs 303 crore. The investment will generate approximately 3,600 direct employment opportunities in the region.

Industry and Information Technology Minister Rama Rao stated that Telangana is making efforts to revolutionise the agriculture sector through optimum utilisation of resources from the Godavari and the Krishna rivers and local water bodies as well.

He also added that there is a need to be self-sufficient in jute production as the demand has been rising on the back of increasing agricultural produce and procurement in the state.

KTR, as the minister in popularly called, stressed the need for farmers to look at alternate crops as well for sustainable profitability. More jute mills are likely to come up in other districts as well given the focus that Telangana is placing on food processing, he said, and assured support to companies coming forward to set up jute industries in the state.

Agriculture Minister Niranjan Reddy said Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has been placing special focus on the jute industry as the agricultural produce is increasing. He said the state will encourage farmers to take up jute cultivation to meet the requirements of the jute mills. He added that the jute can also be a sustainable alternative to plastic.

Civil Supplies Minister Kamalakar said demand for gunny bags in the state has been on the rise. “The state has been sourcing these bags from West Bengal and Chhattisgarh. With new jute mills coming up in the state, it would be in a position to save on these costs,” he said.

These days TRS working president and IT minister K.T.Rama Rao is often travelling to districts by helicopter to launch various development programmes.

Earlier, KTR always used to travel by road in his convoy of vehicles.

But now he is travelling in a helicopter to districts which are near Hyderabad.

KTR went to Gadwal in a helicopter from Hyderabad on Tuesday, which takes less than three hours to reach by road.

KTR is reportedly taking helicopters to tour districts because opposition parties are frequently obstructing him when he is travelling by road.

BJP and ABVP activists are blocking KTR’s convoy whenever he is visiting any district demanding the release of job notifications to fill 2 lakh vacancies in government departments.

Congress activists are also obstructing him on one issue or the other.

Police are resorting to lathi charge on activists to cleary KTR’s convoy and this tussle between police and opposition parties are getting more coverage in media than KTR’s official programmes in districts.

To avoid this situation, KCR is travelling by helicopter and directly landing at the official programme venue or public meeting and returning straight to Hyderabad giving no scope for opposition parties to obstruct him on road.

Telangana Minister K.T. Rama Rao on Tuesday threw a challenge at state BJP chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar to prove him wrong that the state received only Rs 1.42 lakh crore out of its Rs 2.72 lakh crore contribution to the Centre in the form of taxes.

Rama Rao, who is also son of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and Working President of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), said he would resign from his ministerial post if Sanjay proves him wrong and if the BJP leader could not do so, he should resign from the Parliament.

KTR, as Rama Rao is popularly known, slammed the BJP leader for his claim during his ongoing ‘padyatra’ that funds for all the schemes of the state government are coming from the Centre.

Mounting a scathing attack on BJP while addressing a public meeting at Gadwal, he said that the Modi government is giving back only 50 per cent of what Telangana is contributing to the Centre, and told the people that the money earned from their sweat and blood was going to serve the people in the form of central funds to BJP-ruled states.

He alleged that the money being given by Telangana to the Centre in the form of taxes is being diverted to Uttar Pradesh and other backward states.

The TRS leader slammed the Centre for not sanctioning at least one medical college, IIM or Navodaya school for Telangana.

Targetting Sanjay for his claim, KTR asked him whether the Centre was paying for Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bhima, free 24 hours power supply to farmers, nurseries in every village, Vaikuntadhamams in villages, Haritha Haram, Kalyana Lakshmi/Shaadi Mubarak or monthly social security pension of Rs 2,000 for various categories of beneficiaries.

“If the Centre is giving funds for all the schemes being implemented in Telangana, why there are no such schemes in Karnataka which is ruled by the BJP,” he asked.

KTR, who laid foundation stone or inaugurated development works worth Rs 104 crore in Jogulamba Gadwal district in a single day, said Sanjay was spreading lies during his ongoing padyatra.

Things don’t seem to be going KTR’s way these days. Firstly, his anointment as the Chief Minister of Telangana could not go as planned. There was opposition from Eatala and Harish Rao. Though Eatala has been edged out for disobedience, the situation has not improved for KTR. So, his anointment has been taken off the agenda as of now.

Later, he was asked to keep off Huzurabad. In fact, the Huzurabad bypoll is in Karimnagar district, the borough of KTR. But, KTR is nowhere to be seen in Huzurabad. It is Harish Rao from neighbouring Siddipet who is holding the fort there. This has seriously dented KTR’s overall image across the state in general and in Karimnagar in particular.

Now, there is another problem for KCR. Past one week saw huge rains across Telangana and more so in KTR’s constituency of Sircilla. Many of the colonies in Sircilla are marooned and many roles have become waterways. The normal life has been completely disturbed. The people were put to untold hardships. So when KTR toured Sircilla on Friday, the locals vented their ire against KTR for leaving them to their fate and doing nothing to contain the flooding of the main streets of Sircilla. When KTR in his own style, tried to outbeat them in a wordy duel, the flood-hit people were more enraged. Realising that the tide was turning against him, he beat a hasty retreat.

Even in Hyderabad, the floods have wreaked havoc and contrary to KTR’s assurances, the situation has not improved at all. Significantly, not a single minister or MLA visited the flood hit areas this time either in Hyderabad or in Sircilla. KTR faced people’s ire when he visited the flood hit areas in Sircilla, his constituency. Seems KTR has to do much more to woo his voters.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology was on Wednesday briefed on Telangana’s initiatives in the sector.

Information Technology and Industries Minister K.T. Rama Rao highlighted the state’s IT ecosystem and the IT initiatives taken up by the government.

The committee, chaired by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, had the meeting with the state minister and other officials as part of their study tour to Hyderabad.

The committee members included Karti P. Chidambaram, Jayadev Galla, Tejasvi Surya, Mahua Moitra, Chandan Singh, and G. Ranjith Reddy.

KTR, as the minister is popularly known, also felicitated Tharoor and other members of the committee on the occasion.

The panel on Tuesday visited T-Hub (Technology Hub), an innovation hub and ecosystem enabler, and the Telangana State Data Centre.

It got a glimpse of Telangana’s innovation ecosystems. Start-ups at T-Hub showcased their innovative solutions and shared how the state’s ecosystem has enabled them create impact.

Principal Secretary, Information Technology, Electronics and Communications, Jayesh Ranjan, briefed the parliamentary panel on the activities of T-Hub and its achievements.

Meanwhile, Tharoor on Wednesday shared on Twitter his views about the visit to ‘very impressive’ T-Hub. The panel also visited the second phase of the facility coming up at HITEC City.

“The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology visited the very impressive T-Hub in Hyderabad (Phase-2 under construction, hence the hard hats) which is already India’s largest incubation centre &will soon be the world’s second largest. Listened to the innovators,” tweeted the Congress leader.

“Some of the brains behind the T-Hub, the women leading key Verticals with IT Secretary Jayesh Ranjan, & the young men who have invented new rockets that will expand the frontiers of space, bring satellite launches into the private sector &are working on reusable rocket technology,” wrote the MP who also posted photographs taken during the visit.

“Heard from some remarkable innovators at the T-Hub, inspiring & heartwarming tales from Indians responding to Indian needs. A schoolgirl who made a biodegradable planter, a computerised incubator to combat infantile jaundice, a digital payment system, visual aid for the blind,” he added.

The Telangana government has released Rs 73.5 crore for the welfare of handloom weavers and ancillary workers towards various schemes that are being implemented in the state, state Industry Minister K. T. Rama Rao announced on Tuesday.

He said the state government was taking up measures to ensure institutional and structural development of handlooms sector in the state and different welfare schemes and programmes are being implemented accordingly.

As per the instructions of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, measures are being taken to ensure the monthly income of the workers is over Rs 15,000, he said.

At a review meeting with Handloom Department officials, the minister said that following the implementation of different programmes by the state government, monthly income of handloom and ancillary workers had increased, and their living standards have improved.

Following a few requests made by handlooms workers to the minister, a meeting was held last month with Finance Minister Harish Rao and senior officials from the Handlooms Department. The minister on Tuesday conducted another meeting and responded positively to the requests made by handlooms workers.

During the meeting, KTR, as the minister is popularly known, reviewed the progress and implementation of all the schemes. He said the department would take all measures to release the funds sanctioned to workers at the earliest.

These government schemes are also helping the weavers have continuous work throughout the year, he added.

KTR had detailed review of schemes which include the Telangana Handloom Weavers Thrift Fund Saving and Security Scheme (TFSSS), 20 per cent Price Subsidy on hank yarn, dyes and Chemicals, Pavala Vaddi scheme, Marketing Support Schemes, Chenetha Mitra Scheme, and the Cash Credit Support Scheme.

TRS working president and IT minister Rama Rao’s constituency Siricilla in Undivided Karimnagar district is drowned in rainwater due to incessant rains for the past three days.

Siricilla town is the headquarters of the Siricilla district.

Sircilla town is completely inundated. All the roads and colonies in Siricilla town resemble lakes and tanks.

People are facing severe hardships with no power and food and flood water entering their houses.

However, Siricilla MLA KTR has no time to focus on his constituency to come to the rescue of his people as he is busy at Necklace Road in Hyderabad.

TRS organised a huge public meeting on Tuesday (today) to stregthen party in TRS and constitute division party committees and basti committees under GHMC limits which was attended by all ministers, TRS MLAs, MLCs and MPs under GHMC limits.

All the leaders are competing with each other to shower praises on KTR.

KTR’s office simply issued a press release stating that KTR issued instructions to Siricilla district collector and SP to take rescue measures in flood-hit areas.

The new integrated collectorate building complex constructed in Siricilla which was inaugurated by CM KCR recently in June has been drowned in floods.

With this, the collector, SP and other officials are not in a position to work from their offices.

Locals are angry at KTR for giving importance to politics at a time when they are in dire need of help from their local MLA and minister.

Telangana’s cabinet minister K.T. Rama Rao, who is one of the most popular politicians in the country on social media, has crossed three million followers on Twitter.

The minister for industry, information technology, municipal administration and urban development added nearly a million followers since last year.

“Congratulations Chief on reaching 3 Million followers,” tweeted Konatham Dileep, Director, Digital Media, Government of Telangana, late Tuesday. Many followers conveyed their congratulations to the minister, who is very active on the micro blogging platform.

The minister, who is popularly known by his initials KTR, is son of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and working president of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

The 45-year-old added more followers during the Covid-19 pandemic when he responded to almost every tweet seeking help. Be it the lockdown last year or the second wave this year, KTR was the single point contact over social media for those in distress.

Whether it was a request for transportation during lockdown or healthcare emergencies like requirement of hospital beds, medicines or oxygen concentrators, the minister promptly responded to all by redirecting them to his office.

KTR has always been just a tweet away for citizens seeking help, and during the pandemic his office was busy attending to numerous calls from people in distress.

The minister’s office which has one personal secretary and two officers on special duty divide work among themselves and coordinate with concerned government agency or private person to resolve the issue

Since he holds many portfolios, netizens approach him with requests or grievances pertaining to different departments. Twitter users also reach out to him with requests on behalf of the poor and needy who have no access to social media.

On Wednesday, someone tweeted KTR, seeking help for a five-year-old girl child in a remote village in Bhadradri Kothagudem district requiring heart surgery. “Will take care brother @KTRoffice please contact and assist asap,” the minister responded.

One of the most active politicians on Twitter, the TRS leader also occasionally interacts with his followers, responding to their questions on various issues.

Known for his wit and humour, KTR is fluent in English, Telugu, Hindi and Urdu.

Popular among techies and students alike, he always tweets to encourage youngsters for their achievements and innovations.

Reacting to the developments in Afghanistan, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) working president K.T. Rama Rao asked on Monday, “where is the UN”.

Rama Rao, who is also a cabinet minister, took to Twitter to question the United Nations and underlined the need for the world body to intervene.

“Aren’t you supposed to intervene when situations become horrendous,” he asked.

“Truly disturbing visuals from Afghanistan,” added Rama Rao, who is the Minister for Industry, Information Technology, Municipal Administration and Urban Development.

KTR, as Rama Rao is popularly known, also tagged a tweet by Afghan cricketer Rashid Khan.

“Dear World Leaders! My country is in chaos, thousands of innocent people, including children & women, get martyred everyday, houses & properties being destructed. Thousand families displaced… Don’t leave us in chaos. Stop killing Afghans & destroying Afghanistan. We want peace,” read the spinner’s tweet dated August 10.

Rashid, who plays for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL), is currently in the UK playing for Trent Rockets in the inaugural edition of the Hundred. He is reportedly worried over not being able to get his family out of Afghanistan, which has been taken over by the Taliban.

Telangana Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister K.T. Rama Rao said on Friday that Hyderabad is ahead of other major cities in India in sewage treatment.

Laying the foundation for construction of 17 Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) with 376.5 million litres per day (MLD) capacity at a cost of Rs 1,280 crore, he termed this an important milestone for Hyderabad in sewage treatment.

The STPs will enhance the total sewage treatment capacity of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) to 1148.5 MLD.

He said that currently 40 per cent of the sewage generated in Hyderabad is being treated, and this is the highest among eight major cities in the country.

KTR, as the minister is popularly known, said out of 1,950 MLD sewage being generated in the city, 772 MLD is being currently treated

With 17 new STPs being built in Kukatpally, Qutbullahpur and Serlingampally circles, 376.5 MLD more sewerage can be treated.

He said 14 more STPs will be built in the city, and thus, a total of 31 new STPs will be developed in a phased manner. KTR said this would be a key milestone in development of Hyderabad as a global city.

He pointed out that the seweage generated in the city is currently flowing into Musi river with gravity. If this sewerage is not treated, it will create public health problems, he warned.

The construction of STPs will help prevent sewage flowing into the lakes and tanks and as a result, the water bodies can be maintained well and beautification of their surroundings can be ensured.

KTR said the government was working to improve the city’s infrastructure in tune with its rapid expansion. Stating that every year lakhs of people migrated to the city, he said the government was taking steps to develop the infrastructure to meet their requirements.

He recalled that Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH) had an area of 160 square km but when surrounding municipalities were merged with it to create Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), the area expanded to 625 square km.

HMWSSB MD Dana Kishore said for the first time after 14 years, development of STPs is being taken up on a large scale. He said currently 772 MLD seweage is being treated to the extent of 94 per cent. With the construction of 31 new STPs, the sewerage treatment capacity will further go up.

Telangana industries minister K.T.Rama Rao today (Thursday) made an offer to industrialists who are already running industries in the state and those who want to set up new industries in Telangana in the coming days.

KTR said Telangana government will offer special incentives to those who employ more Telangana youth.

He said these special incentives will be directly linked to employment of local youth. The more the local youth recruited in jobs, the more the special incentives they will get from the government.

Rama Rao on Thursday held a review meeting on the development of industries and industrial parks in Telangana.

He said a large number of companies have come up in Telangana since the formation of Telangana State seven years ago in 2014 due to stable government, investor and industry-friendly policies of TRS government, better law and order situation and 24×7 uninterrupted power supply to all sectors, which was not the case in Undivided Andhra Pradesh.

KTR said the government will shift industries located inside Hyderabad to outside of Outer Ring Road (ORR) to control industrial pollution in the city.

Telangana’s Minister for Industry, K.T. Rama Rao, said on Wednesday that French fruit beverages manufacturing company Georges Monin doubling its investment in the state will give a big fillip to the food processing industry.

The minister took to Twitter to welcome Monin’s decision to double investment in its upcoming manufacturing plant in Telangana to Rs 200 crore.

The company had earlier announced that despite the setbacks caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, it is doubling its investment for the plant, targeting completion by 2023.

“With the increased investment of 200 crore, India remains a top-priority market for Monin,” said Olivier Monin, chairman, Georges Monin.

Monin had signed an MoU with the government of Telangana in 2018, announcing an initial investment of Rs 100 crore to set up the manufacturing plant.

The French business has since opened its wholly-owned subsidiary in Hyderabad as Monin India Pvt Ltd and has acquired 40 acres of land for its manufacturing site.

It has also set up an in-house R&D centre in Hyderabad.

Gokaldas Images, which is one of India’s first readymade garment exporters, will set up a 500-machine stitching unit at the Sircilla Apparel Park in Telangana.

The unit will manufacture men’s and women’s inner garments. The agreement for the same was signed between the government of Telangana and Gokaldas Images in April 2021.

State Minister for Information Technology and Industries, K.T. Rama Rao, laid the foundation stone for Gokaldas Images’ apparel factory on Friday.

The Sircilla facility will be the first unit of Gokaldas Images in Telangana and will provide employment to more than 1,000 local persons, majority of them being women.

Speaking at the occasion, Rama Rao stated that the Telangana government has given top priority to the welfare of the weavers community in the state.

He added that the Sircilla Apparel Park, which is coming up with international standards, will create more than 10,000 employment opportunities in the region, out of which majority will go to women.

The Sircilla Apparel Park is the state government’s special initiative to introduce modern best practices in industry, benchmarked to export standards.

The project will encourage the Sircilla textile cluster to generate higher value addition through finished garments for exports and create more jobs for the locals.

Rama Rao said Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will soon launch Neethanna Beema, an insurance scheme for the weavers on the lines of the Rythu Beema scheme for farmers.

Gokaldas Images Managing Director Sumir Hinduja, Handlooms & Textiles Director Shailaja Ramaiyer, and TSIIC MD Narasimha Reddy participated in the programme.

Telangana’s Industries and Information Technology Minister K.T. Rama Rao on Wednesday mooted the idea of first Taiwan specific industrial cluster in India to attract more investments from Taiwan.

He offered this during a meeting with team from Taipei Economic and Cultural Center (TECC) Chennai, headed by Director General, Ben Wang here.

“We can jointly work with industry and trade organisations of Taiwan to help set up the first Taiwan Specific industrial cluster in India. This would help bring more Taiwanese investments into the state,” said Rama Rao.

Economic and trade cooperation between Telangana and Taipei were discussed during the meeting.

KTR, as the minister is popularly known, spoke about Telangana’s unique TS-iPASS Bill which bestows upon the investor the right to get time bound clearances to start their businesses. The delegation was presented with the recently-launched Pink Book and the minister explained the various measures adopted by the government to improve the ease of doing business in the state.

Wang appreciated the various steps initiated by Telangana to improve the ease of doing business in the state and congratulated the state for being amongst the best in the country.

He assured the minister of continued support and said that they would help facilitate a virtual event with important organisations in Taiwan in electronics, EV and other tech domains which would be followed by a physical event in Taipei when the travel restrictions due to the ongoing pandemic are relaxed.

State Principal Secretary ITE&C, Industries and Commerce Jayesh Ranjan appreciate the team’s gesture of undertaking travel in such a restrictive post pandemic environment.

“Apart from actively working on economic and trade fronts, we would also work on improving cultural ties and try to initiate some student exchange programmes between the universities in Taipei and the universities in Telangana. The startup ecosystem of Telangana with institutions like T-Hub and T-Works can also look for collaborations with companies in Taipei,” he added.

The joint delegation of TECC, TAITRA and Invest India was first received by Director Electronics, EV and ESS, Sujai Karampuri who took them through a presentation on Telangana’s business friendly policies. The team from Invest India facilitated the meeting between TECC and the state government.