It's Centre's duty to prop up progressive States, says KTR

Hyderabad: Municipal Administration Minister KT Rama Rao on Saturday urged the Centre to encourage progressive States which have been dominating in terms of benchmarking policies with pioneering initiatives.

The Minister was speaking at the Federation of Telangana Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FTCCI) Excellence Awards presentation programme here on Saturday. The Minister wanted the government of India to encourage the States which are progressing.

"It is the responsibility of the Centre to save the progressive States. Stronger States will make a stronger country. The States which are pioneering in programmes like Mission Bhagiratha, by completing the biggest Lift Irrigation Project like Kaleshwaram within three years. We want the Union Finance Minister to incentivise the State in the ensuing budget," said Rao.

The Minister expressed disappointment over the neglect by the Centre. "When it comes to rankings by merit, Telangana stands among the top three States in the country but when it comes to allocation of projects, the other States take them away.

This is a number game and unfortunately we have only 17 seats. The high speed rail connectivity stops in Bombay. 'Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas' is the slogan but Vishwas will come if words become deeds in reality. We had demanded an industrial corridor in Hyderabad-Nagpur, Hyderabad-Bengaluru- Hyderabad-Warangal, Hyderabad-Nagpur. What will happen if you don't give funds," said Rao.

Rao said that the Pharma city would serve not only Telangana but the world as Hyderabad is considered the vaccine capital of the world with a production of 5 billion doses of vaccines. "Though one third of the world's vaccine demand is supplied from Hyderabad there is no testing lab here. We want to run fast but this will not happen unless the Centre helps the State," said Rao. However, he said that inspite of all these the State was growing with a good speed.

The Minister said that the State government had allocated Rs 1,500 crore for industrial incentives but could not implement that because of the pandemic but he assured to provide the benefits now. Talking about TSiPass, Rao said that 13,826 approvals were given and Rs 2.60 lakh crore worth investments were attracted and 14 lakh direct employment was provided.

The Minister mocked the Atma Nirbhar package, stating that it was ineffective as not even 20 persons had got benefit under that package. He said that the industrialists and governments were waiting for a good package to revive industry to bounce back.