Medak district poised for big industry leap

Medak: The industrial growth in the Medak district, which is restricted to some pockets near Hyderabad is now poised to take a big jump with the Telangana Government's initiative of TS-iPASS.

Medak is a backward district with more than 80 per cent of the population dependent on agriculture. It has a low literacy rate and low per capita income. Industrialization is confined to a few places, closer to Hyderabad.

Most of the large and Small Scale Industries in the district are promoted by the people outside the district. The district has milk chilling centres in Zaheerabad mandal. The district lacks good storage facilities for preserving the products leading to huge wastage of the produce. Mango, guava and orange grown here are marketed in the district, the State capital and the mangoes are exported to other countries.

In the private sector, the important industries are Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, MRF Ltd., Aurobindo Pharma Ltd., Hetero Drugs Ltd., Medicorp Technology Ltd., Neuland Labs Ltd., Biological E Ltd., Samkarg Pistons Ltd., ITW Signode India Ltd., Pennar Steels Ltd., Asian Paints Ltd., Ralchem Ltd., PSM Spinning Ltd., Kirby Building Systems Ltd etc.

The important products manufactured under the large and medium sector are turbines, generators, electrical equipment, missiles, light combat vehicles, sugar, bulk drugs, formulations, (capsules, syrups, injections, tablets, powders), pesticides and formulations, V-belts, cotton and synthetic yarns, tires, tubes and flaps beer, cool drinks, electrical fans, refrigerators, air coolers, building systems, and CR-steel strips.

According to an official from the industries department, in Medak district 593 units were established with an investment of Rs 6,209.03 crore providing employment to 21,793 people. The district is having major part of cable making, steel based, plastic and rice mills industries, the official added.

The official said that since the inception of the TS-iPASS, 1,299 units had applied and 1,094 were issued approval. The official said that total investments made were to the tune of Rs 5,192.64 crore providing employment to 16,236 people.

The official said that the district was poised to get good investments with the TSiPASS but the pandemic had affected the chances as half of the year was under lockdown. The official said that out of the 184 applications received, as many as 149 were approved during this year. The total investments received were Rs 783.33 crore providing employment to 3,053 people.

The official said that with the presence of Mahindra and Mahindra, there is a lot of scope for ancillaries in the automobile sector. Industries namely, body fabrication, clutch plates, gear box, leafsprings, fibre components, indicator meters etc. have huge potential. Another bid advantage of the district is proximity to Bidar district of Karnataka, which is just eight kilometres away from the plant. There is a scope for setting up food and agro based industries like bio-diesel producing units, medicine extraction and preparations, neem seed processing, and corn based products to name a few.