Telangana hotbed for investment: KTR

Hyderabad: Telangana has attracted over Rs 2.5 lakh crore in investment across various sectors in the last eight years due to business-friendly policies and atmosphere, State Industries minister KT Rama Rao said.

Rao - who also holds the portfolio of Telangana minister for Commerce, IT and Urban Development - made the remarks in a reply to a question on State investment policies. "We gave more than 20,000 clearances (to business proposals) in last eight years through TS iPass attracting more than Rs 2.5 lakh crore of investment and created 1.6 million or 16 crore direct job opportunities," he told in an interview.

Under the TS iPass or Telangana State Industrial Policy, an investor is given all clearances within 15 days, Rao said. However, if an investor does not receive any communication from the Telangana government, his or her investment proposal is entitled to be deemed approved, the minister said, adding the officer responsible for the delay is fined accordingly.

"Further, if one already complies with all rules and regulations, the person can begin construction from day one by just filing a self-declaration document with the government," he said. Rao said sectors like IT, pharma and manufacturing have shown tremendous growth over the last eight years.

In a reply to a question on the number of companies operating in Telangana, minister said, "We are the world's largest vaccine hub. 33 per cent of the world vaccine is produced in Telangana. We manufacture 35-40 per cent of India's pharmaceuticals. We are an important hub in information and technology. In fact, the world's largest IT companies like Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon and Qualcomm all are here."

The ecosystem in the IT sector is about eight lakh people in direct jobs and at least two fold of them are working indirectly for the segment. Out of 4.5 lakh jobs created in the IT sector last year, 1.5 lakh jobs were created in Telangana alone. One over of every three jobs in IT gets generated in Telangana, he said. In life sciences, more than 5 lakh people have direct jobs.

When asked about the investment his government is expecting over the next five years, Rao said, "I will not pose any numbers. We will speak when things materialise. The State is seeing repeat investments from already operating players." Telangana is number three in the ease of doing business index. "We also provide peace of doing business that is why out of Rs 2.5 lakh crore of investment, 24 per cent was repeat investment from players who had already invested in the state," the minister said.

Recently a textile company signed an MoU with the State government to invest Rs 24,000 crore and Schneider Electric is setting up its second unit in Telangana, Rao said, citing examples of repeat investments. "Companies from America, Europe and Asia have invested in Telangana. I urge investors from all over the globe to invest in Telangana and assure full support to their proposals," the minister said.