Automotive major Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd will set up an electric vehicle manufacturing facility as expansion of its existing manufacturing facilities at Zaheerabad in Telangana,

As part of its Last Mile Mobility business, Mahindra & Mahindra will manufacture electric 3 and 4 wheelers at this state-of-the-art facility.

The Telangana government signed an MoU with Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd for establishing a manufacturing facility on the sidelines of the first edition of Mobility Next Hyderabad Summit.

The government said on Thursday that the facility will involve an investment of about Rs.1,000 crores, creating employment for about 800-1,000 persons.

M&M will collaborate with the state government to lay down the roadmap for development of electric vehicle and energy storage systems manufacturing units in the state.

Industries Minister K. T. Rama Rao welcomed the investment from M&M. He stated that the proposed facility by M&M will greatly contribute to the goal of Telangana Mobility Valley to further accelerate the growth of sustainable mobility in India.

“Location at Zaheerabad, one of the 4 Mega EV Manufacturing clusters being developed by the state, will allow M&M to access state-of-the-art infrastructure planned to be created by the state in the mega clusters,” he said.

Rajesh Jejurikar, Executive Director (Auto & Farm), Mahindra & Mahindra, thanked the Telangana government for their long-standing partnership. “We are delighted to consider expansion of the current manufacturing unit at Zaheerabad for our new EV Manufacturing investment. This investment will help continue our leadership position in electric 3-Wheeler category,” he said.

The Telangana government on Monday unveiled Telangana Mobility Valley, India’s first new mobility-focused cluster to accelerate growth of sustainability mobility in the country.

Telangana Mobility Valley (TMV) aims to attract investments of around Rs 50,000 crore and generate more than 4 lakh jobs in the next 5 years.

Industries and Commerce Minister K. T. Rama Rao made the announcement while inaugurating the first edition of the Mobility Next Hyderabad EV Summit.

He said that TMV has already generated significant momentum amongst the industry. Amara Raja will invest Rs 9,500 crore in setting up Li-Ion giga-factory while Hyundai will invest Rs 1,400 crore for setting Automotive Proving Grounds.

Bilti Electric to invest Rs 1,100 crore for setting up e3W manufacturing plant while Allox to invest Rs 750 crore to set up India’s first multi gigawatt cathode manufacturing.

The minister revealed that Attero would invest Rs 600 crore in setting up a battery recycling plant and Gravton would invest Rs 150 crore in setting up e2W manufacturing.

Apollo will set up a Digital Innovation Centre for driving efficiency. Bosch Global Software Technologies will hire up to 3,000 employees to develop AI and safety solutions in automotives. Fisker has set-up its first facility outside the US for developing engineering R&D. MG Group has set-up an EV Park in Hyderabad to support start-ups.

The Telangana government, along with TASK, has set up the Kalam Centre For Automotive Excellence (CAE) to upskill youth in e-Mobility.

Further, investments aggregating Rs 3,000 crore are in advanced stages and will be announced in next two weeks. These investments will further strengthen the electric 3-wheeler, electric 2-wheeler, and charging equipment manufacturing ecosystem in Telangana, Rama Rao said.

The state has engaged leading consulting firm, Boston Consulting Group to help conceptualise and develop a truly differentiated vision for the TMV, which aims to facilitate companies across all segments of sustainable mobility – electric 2-wheeler/3-wheeler/4-wheeler, advanced cell chemistry and hydrogen fuel cells, Tier 1 and Tier 2 Component manufacturers and Auto Engineering R&D companies

As part of TMV, the state is developing four mega clusters in and around Hyderabad: EV manufacturing clusters in Zaheerabad and Seetharampur, energy storage system (ESS) cluster in Divitipally, and innovation cluster at Yenkathala.

“Each of the clusters will be equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure to reduce cost of operations for their tenant. For instance, we are setting India’s most comprehensive shared testing and validation infrastructure at Yenkathala. This includes state of the art labs for EV Powertrain, EV Battery, ADAS, NVH, EMI-EMC and Component Test Labs and India’s first CAV proving grounds to test Autonomous Vehicles in 100+ acres,” the minister said.

The state government has signed a MOU with ATS-TUV Rheinland, a leading German services provider which will invest Rs 250 crore to develop and operate these facilities in Yenkathala.

“Our ESS cluster will have world class infrastructure to manufacture lithium-ion cells, cathode active battery material, and other lithium-ion components. The cluster will also have a battery recycling facility to minimise carbon footprint and reduce costs of production for developing battery packs for EVs,” the minister said.

He said in TMV the government will bring together industry and the academia to setup series of Centers of Excellence (CoE) to create industry ready talent.

He announced that India’s first CoE in Automotive cybersecurity in collaboration between BITS Hyderabad and Bosch, will be launched in the upcoming academic year.

This COE between BITS and Bosch will set an example for the country for creating talent to meet the changing requirements of the automotive industry

“Further, we will be announcing at least four other COEs over the next few weeks on topics like Automotive Cybersecurity, Automotive Artificial Intelligence, Electrochemistry and Modelling & Simulation,” he added.

The minister said that another focus area for TMV is to promote mobility startups in the state

T-Hub, India’s largest innovation centre, has partnered with leading mobility corporates such as Maruti Suzuki, Nissan, and Uber for identifying innovative start-ups and has incubated successful start-ups such as Biliti Electric, Hala Mobility etc

The state has entered into an MoU with Plug and Play to set up co-working and incubation spaces for start-ups. To identify and support entrepreneurs with innovative ideas, the state is organising ‘Grand Start-up challenge’ as part of Hyderabad E-Mobility week. State will be supporting selected ideas through grants and incubation support. Over 100 start-ups in the mobility space have submitted cutting edge ideas.

He announced that the Hyderabad E Mobility will be held regularly to foster collaboration by bringing together the thought leaders, experts and global automotive ecosystem players to chart a course for sustainable mobility.

In addition to the Summit, the Hyderabad E-Mobility week includes RallE, which was organized with an objective to promote e-mobility amongst the citizens and saw participation from more than 700 EVs.

Hyderabad E-Motor Show will provide a platform to the automotive companies to showcase their next gen EV models.

To showcase the power of E-Mobility, Hyderabad will become the first city in India to host the Formula E race.

Telangana’s minister for industries, commerce and information technology K.T. Rama Rao on Thursday called for politicians to focus on economics rather than on politics.

He said it was unfortunate that leaders in India focus on politics and not on the economy.

India is in a perennial mode of elections and politicians were always more focused on winning the elections than creating wealth for the next generations, he said while addressing at the NHRD ‘Decode The Future- The National Conference’.

“We are the world’s largest democracy and elections happen throughout the year and the leaders are always seized with politics,” he said.

K.T. Rama Rao, popularly known as KTR, also underlined the need for ensuring equitable distribution of wealth.

India was the most populous country in the world and yet a majority of the wealth of the nation was owned by a few individuals, he pointed out.

He said it was the primary responsibility of every single government to ensure wealth distribution.

“We need to think whether the leadership of our nation is giving us the aspirations of being a 25 trillion economy, besides how the wealth can be distributed equally among all sections,” KTR said.

“We are a nation with the maximum number of poor people on the planet. I am not preaching Communism but unless wealth is distributed equitably and unless the government takes care of the most vulnerable, we may have civil strife,” he warned.

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that freebie culture is bad for the country, KTR said the fact remains that India is still a third world country.

He said that India which recently surpassed China as the most populous state with 1.4 billion has the biggest advantage both in terms of natural and Human resources.

The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader believes that the biggest challenge for a leader is not capital management but people management.

He pointed out that the maiden age of 65 per cent of India’s think force is 35 years and maiden age of 50 per cent of think force is 28 years.

“We are the youngest nation on the planet but we are not using this asset effectively,” he said.

Unfortunately, the youth were being trained and groomed to be job seekers and not job providers, he said.

Stating that the statistics are sometimes misleading, he said while India is fifth largest economy in terms of GDP, it ranks 142 with a per capita income of only $2,400.

KTR said India and China had almost similar GDPs in the 1980s. Now, China was a 18 trillion dollar economy and India was still languishing at 3.4 trillion dollars. Similarly, Japan, despite its geographical and topographical challenges, is the third largest economy in the world.

He said China managed its aspirations and development goals and ensured that its natural and human resources were put to effective use. He said Japan could achieve amazing growth despite all adversities because of the intellect of its people.

Listing out the rapid strides made by Telangana during the last eight years, especially the growth in GSDP and the per capita income, he claimed that If only the rest of India had performed at par with Telangana, the country would have already become a 4.25 trillion dollar economy.

KTR claimed that Telangana made good use of the natural and human resources and achieved 15 percent CAGR. Telangana’s per capita income in 2014 was Rs 1.24 lakh and increased to Rs 2.75 lakh while the national average was Rs 1.49 lakh, he said.

He pointed out that in the last 8.5 years, Telangana issued nearly 22,000 clearances for industries through TS-IPASS and generated 21 lakh direct jobs.

He also explained how Telangana was marching ahead with a fine balance of development and welfare.

“If only the rest of India can work like Telangana and if only the rest of India is led by a leader like KCR, 5 trillion is a joke, we can reach 15 trillion dollars,” he said.

American multinational food company PepsiCo is planning to expand its operation in Hyderabad and add 1,200 employees within the next one and half years.

The Global Business Services Center of PepsiCo which started with 250 people in 2019 has become 2,800 strong now. With the expansion, the headcount will grow to 4,000.

This was announced by the company on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Roberto Azevedo, EVP Corporate Affairs, PepsiCo, met Telangana’s minister for industries and commerce at Telangana Pavilion and discussed the company’s expansion plans in the state.

Minister KTR expressed happiness over the rapid growth of the PepsiCo’s Global Business Services Center in Hyderabad and assured that the state government will extend all possible cooperation for all future investments of the company.

PesiCo GBS is currently delivering critical products and solutions for company operations and digitalising HR, and Financial Services of the company.

PepsiCo is keen to participate in sustainability initiatives in partnership with the Government of Telangana including improving water efficiency, recycling and reuse of plastics, according to a statement from the minister’s office in Hyderabad.

During the meeting, the manufacturing opportunities for popular PepsiCo food products in Telangana state were also discussed.

IT & Industries Principal Secretary Jayesh Ranjan, Dr Vishnuvardhan Reddy, Special Secretary, Invest Telangana were present during the meeting.

Telangana with astounding progress achieved since inception of the state in 2014 stands as a role model, said state minister for industries and information technology K.T. Rama Rao.

Before heading to the World Economic Forum meeting at Davos, the Minister spoke at the ‘Meet and Greet’ programme organised by the Indian diaspora in Zurich.

Indians living in Switzerland, the UK, Denmark, Germany, Norway, and other countries attended the gathering, according to the Minister’s office in Hyderabad.

He urged the NRIs to be Telangana’s goodwill ambassador, participate in government’s programmes like Mana Ooru — Mana Badi and promote Telangana and India.

Urging them to be part of the state’s growth story, KTR assured of complete support even if anyone wants to make small investments in the state and create jobs.

Giving a peek into development, the minister said that paddy production was at 68 lakh tonnes and procurement by the government was 24 lakh tonnes in 2014 and in 2022, the production and procurement grew to 3.5 crore tonnes and over two crore tonnes, respectively.

The IT exports out of Telangana grew from Rs. 57,000 crore to Rs 1.83 lakh crore, per capita of Telangana grew from Rs 1.24 lakh in 2014 to Rs 2.78 lakh, while national average is Rs 1.49 lakh, he said

Speaking about the progress achieved in the villages, KTR said that now every village has a nursery, vaikunta dhamam, and 10 per cent of gram panchayat budget is earmarked as green budget, and the government has provided a tractor and a tanker for every gram panchayat in the state.

KTR said that the needs of farmers were taken care of by providing free power round-the-clock, Rythu Bandhu and Rythu Bhima, high quality seeds, fertilizers and pesticides, and Rythu Vedikas were built.

He said that Palle Pragathi was a role model, and that the needs of people in villages were thoroughly thought through by Chief Minister KCR, which no other Chief Minister or Prime Minister did.

The Industries Minister said that five revolutions are unfolding in Telangana, which are: Pink revolution (meat), yellow revolution (oil palm), blue revolution (inland fisheries), white revolution (milk) and green revolution (crops).

Telangana’s Minister for Industries and Information Technology, K.T. Rama Rao has sought budgetary support from the Centre for various industrial projects in the state.

Reminding the Narendra Modi-led Central Government about the promises made to Telangana, he said that the upcoming Union Budget 2023-24 is the right occasion for the Centre to show its commitment to the development of the state.

After writing a series of letters urging the Centre to support various sectors in the state, Rama Rao on Saturday dashed off a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman about the budgetary support that Central government has to extend to various projects in Telangana industrial sector.

KTR, as the Telangana minister is popularly known, said that if the Centre truly believes in the slogans – Make in India, Aatmanirbhar Bharat, then support has to be extended to progressive states like Telangana which is filled with the potential to actualise those slogans.

Stating that Telangana’s pioneering policies achieved notable progress in the industrial sector after formation of the state, the minister said that world-class infrastructure is being created to meet the needs of industries and attract more investments.

As part of it, KTR said, India’s largest textile park, world’s largest single pharma cluster – Hyderabad Pharma City are being established. He said that the industrial parks will usher in development of not only the state but the entire country.

Reiterating that the country’s progress can be fast tracked if states are strengthened, KTR sought huge funds to be allotted to Telangana which became a key player in the nation’s industrial sector.

KTR said that though the state sought Centre’s support many a time in the past, it did not receive sufficient funds in the previous eight Union Budgets introduced by the BJP-led Union government.

In his letter to the Union Finance Minister, KTR listed the industrial corridors, industrial parks and various other projects spread across the state which need budgetary support from the Union government.

He sought funding support for external infrastructure development at NIMZ, Zaheerabad. He said the Centre should provide Rs 500 crore out of the total estimate of Rs 9,500 crore.

KTR also sought budgetary support for development of Hyderabad-Warangal industrial corridor and Hyderabad-Nagpur industrial corridor.

At least 50 per cent of the total cost of Rs 5,000 crore is required to join two nodes of Hyderabad Pharma City and NIMZ Zaheerabad, he wrote.

The Union minister was also urged to provide fund support for development of Hyderabad-Vijayawada industrial corridor. KTR sought Rs 1,500 crore out of Rs 5,000 crore to newly identified Hyderabad, Jadcherla, Gadwal, Kothakota nodes

Establishing a Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) in Jadcherla Industrial Park under TIES scheme and gas allotment for the same, sanction and upgradation of Brownfield Manufacturing Clusters, reopening of Cement Corporation of India in Adilabad, setting up a national design centre in Hyderabad, budgetary support for Hyderabad Pharma City, inclusion of Hyderabad in the proposed Defence Industrial Production corridor, support for development of Kakatiya Mega Textile Park and sanctioning of Mega Powerloom Cluster including Textile Park, Weaving Park and Apparel Park in Sircilla under the Comprehensive Powerloom Cluster Development Scheme (CPCDS) are among the other requests made by the minister.

Telangana IT and Industries Minister K.T. Rama Rao will lead a delegation from the state to the World Economic Forum, which will be held in Davos, Switzerland from January 16 to 20.

The delegation will depart from Hyderabad on January 14 and reach Zurich the next day. They will then proceed to Davos by road.

This is the fifth time that the state business delegation is going to WEF, Davos. Telangana state had sent a delegation to WEF, Davos, for the first time in 2018, followed by 2019, 2020 and 2022.

The global summit of business and political leaders generally happens in January. But due to Covid wave, the 2022 event was held in May. The 2023 World Economic Forum is happening under the theme ‘Cooperation in a Fragmented World’.

The alpine resort town of Davos, which is at an altitude of 1,560 metres above sea level, is all decked up to host the prestigious annual summit.

World Economic Forum President Borge Brende in his invitation to KTR, wrote: “Your leadership in transforming Telangana into a leading technology powerhouse is noteworthy.”

Apart from participating in various sessions at the WEF, KTR will be meeting top leadership of several global marquee companies at the Telangana Pavilion setup in Davos.

The Minister will also be participating in industry round-tables organised on the sidelines of the WEF.

With an ultimate aim to showcase Telangana as an investment destination for global firms and to create more employment opportunities for Telangana youth in the private sector, he will spell out the progressive and industry friendly policies of Telangana government.

Telangana delegation’s previous trips to the WEF were highly successful and fetched huge investments resulting in large scale job creation for local youth. Several investments are expected to be clinched during this year as well, said a statement from the minister’s office.

Telangana’s Information Technology Minister K.T. Rama Rao said on Monday that Hyderabad beat Bengaluru in job creation in the IT sector last year.

Out of 4.50 lakh jobs created in India in the IT sector last year, 1.46 lakh jobs were created in Bengaluru. “Hyderabad surpassed Bengaluru as the city added 150,000 jobs,” the minister said during an interaction with IT industry leaders, organised by Hyderabad Software Enterprises Association (HYSEA).

KTR, as the minister is popularly known, also pointed out that for eight consecutive quarters, Hyderabad beat Bengaluru in office space absorption.

He said it was a matter of pride that out of 5 million employees in the IT sector, one million are from Hyderabad.

He pointed out that the number of employees in the IT sector in Telangana grew from 3.23 lakh to 8.7 lakh and the IT exports rose from Rs 57,000 crore to Rs 1.83 Lakh crore in the last eight years.

“The number of employees, employers who are looking at Hyderabad is growing. I sincerely believe that this is just the beginning,” KTR said.

About the two million jobs that are expected to be created in India in the coming years, he said that the state government will continue to closely collaborate with the industry to latch up the opportunity

He appealed to the industry leaders to look beyond Hyderabad and expand their operations in Tier-II towns of the state, and urged them to point the state government to new opportunities, and prospective investors.

He urged IT giants like Infosys and TCS to lead such initiatives as there is a lot of scope.

KTR said the government has already launched IT hubs in Khammam and Karimnagar. The Nizamabad IT hub would be launched next month and this would be followed with the launch of Mahabubnagar and Nalgonda IT hubs.

The minister said that the state has been working to see how partnership between industry and academia can be formed.

He told the industry leaders that Telangana Academy of Skills and Knowledge (TASK) had trained over 7 lakh youngsters during the last eight years not just in the IT sector but also in life sciences, aerospace, and defence.

The state government has already set up a Cyberabad security council, which works in joint operations with industry.

He said during the last eight years, Telangana created a robust innovation ecosystem that includes T-Hub, WE HUB, Telangana State Innovation Cell (TSIC), WASH Hub, T-Works and others. He informed them that B-Hub for Biotech & Life Sciences Industries is in the pipeline and that T-Works will be inaugurated this year.

He pointed out that Skyroot, the company which launched its rocket into orbit successfully in its first attempt, was incubated at T-HUB.

Even Elon Musk’s company could not achieve success in three attempts. Now, this itself was a big statement about T Hub’s efficiency, he said.

Similarly, Dhruva company, also a Hyderabad company, launched nano satellites into orbit successfully.

KTR also spoke about the mobility, digital and other infrastructure created by Telangana government since 2014. “Telangana tops the list of states in the metric of per capita e-transactions offered through MeeSeva. First State to use facial recognition to renew pensioners’ life certificates, and in local body polls,” he said.

He revealed that the T-Fiber initiative to extend 100 MBPS connectivity to 10 million households would be completed this year. Likewise, T-Works, the largest prototyping facility would be inaugurated in the first quarter, he said.

In terms of transportation infrastructure in the city, he said the state government under Strategic Road Development Programme (SRDP) had envisaged 47 projects and of which 37 projects were completed.

He said Hyderabad would be the first city to treat 100 percent sewerage through STPs by June. The state government is also ensuring there were no drinking water woes in the city till 2050, he added.

Principal Secretary, IT, E&C Department, Jayesh Ranjan, Cyberabad Police Commissioner Stephen Raveendra, Hyderabad Police Commissioner C.V. Anand, Rachakonda Police Commissioner D.S. Chauhan, Hyderabad Metro Rail Ltd (HMRL) MD N.V.S. Reddy, HYSEA’s President Manisha Saboo, Chief Relations Officer Amarnath Reddy Atmakuri and others attended the event.

Telangana’s minister for municipal administration and urban development K.T. Rama Rao claimed on Thursday that the Centre’s awards to state urban local bodies are a testament to the state’s good work.

In the Swach Survekshan rankings, Telangana bagged 26 awards this year. Similarly, in the Swach Survekshan Grameen for December 2022, the top three awards in the four star category were bagged by Rajanna Sircilla, Karimnagar and Peddapalli.

He said that the Centre cannot afford to ignore the development ushered in by the state government in towns and villages, regardless of political affiliations.

He was addressing a workshop on Pattana Pragathi, the urban development programme of the state government.

Appreciating officials and staff for winning 26 awards in Swachh Survekshan-2022, he said that the Central government’s awards are a testament to the focus, commitment, and passion invested by people in the state.

Urging the officials and staff to be innovative at work and asking them not to hesitate in pitching new ideas, KTR said he is committed to make the department the best in the country.

On the occasion, KTR informed that 42 out of 141 Municipalities achieved ODF++ status and asked the Municipal Commissioners, ACLBs of the remaining 99 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) to focus on achieving the distinction.

He said that Pattana Pragathi Dhinotsavam will be held in February where Municipal Commissioners, ACLBs who have done exceptional work in innovation, city beautification and improving greenery, would be recognised and rewarded.

He revealed that the state government spent a staggering Rs 15,961 crore for 141 municipalities across the state excluding Hyderabad in the last 8.5 years, which no other state in the country did.

He said that a comprehensive report on it would be distributed among all MLAs, MLCs, MPs, during the next Assembly session and to Municipal Commissioners, Assistant Collector Local Bodies (ACLB) too to let them know how the state government has been trying to improve towns. The minister said that it includes the money spent on Pattana Pragathi, CM’s assurances, Mission Bhagiratha, and other works.

KTR said that municipal administration and governance is not always about spending money on new infra creation. It is also about bringing in reformative legislation, and revolutionising policies and laws. He spoke about the path-breaking Telangana State Building Permission Approval & Self Certification System (TS-bPASS) implemented by the state government and said that no other state in the country introduced legislation which helps citizens get the approvals in such a transparent manner.

At the workshop, he inquired about progress of various development works in 141 municipalities across the state such as: Integrated veg and non-veg markets, Mission Bhagiratha works, Vaikunta Dhamams, biomining, recycling and reusing all forms of waste, Fecal Sludge Treatment Plants, Digital Door Numbering and others.

Explaining the concept of zero waste which is about efficiently recycling and reusing solid, wet and other forms of waste, he asked them to go through Accredited Staff College of India’s (ASCI) book titled ‘Innovations and leading practices in water sanitation and hygiene’ which also has concepts on circular economy, utilising construction and demolition waste, solid and liquid waste.

Telangana attracted a whopping investment of Rs 3.30 lakh crores ($40 billion) through the path-breaking industrial policy TSiPASS since 2014, state Information Technology and Industries Minister K.T. Rama Rao said on Monday.

He said that the state has consequently created over 22.5 lakh jobs. He also stated that the overall investment amount and employment figures would be much higher if real estate, hospitality, mining, logistics and other sectors are taken into account.

At a meeting held with officials from IT and Industries & Commerce departments, he directed them to prepare a report on the investments attracted by all sectors.

KTR, as the minister is popularly known, said that Telangana government’s revolutionary policies, industrial parks, transparent governance and TSiPASS, which is in sync with Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s vision, helped in attracting the investments.

He said that a total of 14 priority sectors were identified by the state government and a director was appointed to each of the sectors. During constant engagement with the companies, which were keen to invest, details on the state government’s pioneering policies, world-class infrastructure available here were presented. “This helped to attract investments,” he said.

He lauded the officials of the two departments and exhorted them to work in the same spirit to continue the spree of investments into the state. Various activities that would be taken up in the two departments, projects that are scheduled to be inaugurated were discussed at the meeting.

Expressing happiness about the huge number of jobs provided through the investments, KTR said that Hyderabad overtook the cities which were in leading positions in providing employment opportunities.

A few weeks ahead of the Union Budget 2023-24, Telangana Handlooms and Textiles Minister K.T. Rama Rao has urged the Central government to allot sufficient funds for strengthening the handlooms sector in the state.

While mentioning that the Centre did not extend financial support to the various pioneering initiatives taken up by the state government for weavers in the past eight years, he said that this is the last full budget of the current Central government, which will be followed by vote on account budget.

KTR, as the Minister is popularly known, said that multiple appeals by the State government to strengthen the sector were not considered favourably by the Centre.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central Government should prove its commitment to the weavers and textiles sector, he said.

Recognising the importance of infrastructure to usher rapid progress of the handlooms sector, the state government is establishing Kakatiya Mega Textiles Park in Warangal, he said, adding that the biggest textile park in India is attracting investments from national and international companies.

KTR said that the Centre has options to extend financial support under various schemes to the park, which is being established with Rs 1,600 crore.

“At least Rs 900 crore should be allotted in the upcoming budget towards infrastructure for the Kakatiya Mega Textile Park and other programmes,” he said.

The Handlooms and Textiles Minister appealed that the Powerloom Sector in Sircilla, which has over 25,000 powerloom machines, be recognised as Mega Powerloom Cluster and allot Rs 100 crores to it.

Listing the Worker to Owner Scheme and other programmes taken up by the State government, he said that it takes over Rs 990 crore for strengthening of value chain, modernisation of power looms in Sircilla, improvement of market, skill development, capacity building, project monitoring, and appealed that a major share of the funds has to be announced in the budget.

Stating that there are over 40,000 handloom weavers in various parts of Telangana, with most of them in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri, Gadwal, Warangal, Rajanna Sircilla, Karimnagar, KTR urged the Centre to grant Indian Institute of Handloom Technology to the state. He said that land parcels to establish the institute are available at Gundlapochampally and Yadadri Bhuvanagiri.

The Handlooms and Textiles Minister also urged for the National Textiles Research Institute, Handlooms Exports Promotion Council to be announced in this budget, and to grant Block Level Handlooms Clusters under the National Handloom Development Project.

KTR made a special appeal to scrap the GST on handlooms products to save the weavers who are in financial crisis.

He also appealed to the Centre to revive the Handlooms, Powerlooms, and Handicrafts Boards which were dissolved by the Union government, to re-introduce insurance and savings schemes for weavers, and increase yarn subsidy, alike to the state government, to 50 per cent.

Telangana’s minister for industry and commerce K.T. Rama Rao on Saturday alleged that Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has hurt the people of Telangana by denying a bulk drug park to Hyderabad.

The minister took to Twitter to react to a statement made by the union minister for health, chemicals and fertilisers in the Parliament.

“By denying the Bulk Drug park to India’s pre-eminent Life-sciences Hub, you’ve done a great disservice to the Nation,” tweeted Rama Rao, who is also working president of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).

“It’s a pity that for NPA Govt political considerations outweigh National interests,” added the minister, who always refers to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as Non-Performing Alliance (NPA).

KTR, as the BRS leader is popularly known, also slammed the union minister for uttering a lie in the Parliament.

Though the written answer shows that a bulk drug park was approved for Andhra Pradesh, the minister told the Lok Sabha that the Centre approved the proposal for the park in Hyderabad and Rs 1,000 crore will be given for the purpose.

Mansukh Mandaviya stated that the bulk drug parks were also approved for Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

KTR stated that the minister had not only misled the people of Telangana with his white lies but also the Parliament.

He requested BRS floor leader in Lok Sabha Nama Nageswara Rao to move a privilege motion and make sure that the central minister apologises to people of Telangana for misleading them.

Telangana’s Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister K.T. Rama Rao has urged Centre to accord in-principle approval for the Hyderabad Metro Rail Phase II Project, from BHEL to Lakdikapul costing Rs 8,453 crore, as a jointly owned project of Centre and the state with external financial assistance.

In a letter ato Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri, KTR, as the Minister is popularly known requested to include the said proposal in the ensuing union budget for 2023-24. The new Metro Line is proposed to be 26 km long with 23 stations.

He sought to meet the Union Minister to explain the project. To avoid delays in processing, detailed project reports (DPRs) of the project (as prepared by DMRC) and other related documents were sent to Centre by the Telangana government on October 27, the Minister added.

Noting that Hyderabad is the fastest-growing metropolitan city in terms of quarterly and year on year growth of real estate sector especially since 2019-20, he said that with the opening up of all the offices in post-Covid scenario, the need for expansion and strengthening of public transportation system needs no emphasis.

The Phase-I of the Hyderabad Metro Rail Project spanning over 69 km was successfully implemented and fully operational. Incidentally, it is the world’s largest Metro Rail Project in PPP mode under the Centre’s VGF scheme, he said.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) working president K. T. Rama Rao on Tuesday termed “shocking” the affidavit filed by the Gujarat government in the Supreme Court that it decided to release 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case after the Centre gave its approval.

“Shocking!! All along it was reported that Gujarat Govt released the “Sanskari Rapists” Turns out it is Union Govt who actually approved this!,” tweeted Rama Rao.

“Shameful & repulsive Letting out Rapists & Child-Killers just for political gains is a new low even by the very low BJP standards,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Asaduddin Owaisi stated that Bilkis Bano rapists were released early after approval from union home minister Amit Shah’s ministry.

“These men were guilty of brutal rape & murder. A 3 year old’s head was bashed with a rock. They were killed only because they were Muslim. For BJP, no crime is too grave if the victims are Muslim,” tweeted the Hyderabad MP.

Owaisi wrote that the release was against the central government’s own policy but BJP state and central governments left no stone unturned for the early release of these rapists, murderers and child killers.

The Gujarat government informed the Supreme Court on Monday that the union government had given approval for the premature release of 11 prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case.

“All the prisoners have completed 14-plus years in the prison under life imprisonment and opinions of the authorities concerned have been obtained as per the premature release policy of 1992 and submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs vide letter dated June 28, 2022 and sought the approval of the Government of India. The Government of India conveyed the concurrence/approval under Section 435 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for premature release of 11 prisoners in a letter on July 11, 2022,” the state government said in an affidavit.