Hyderabad: The IT minister of Telangana, Mr K.T. Rama Rao, says that agitations and bandhs are things of the past, and that as the party running the government, the TRS will not call any more bandhs, even over the Polavaram issue.
The minister says that although Hyderabad has lost some of its sheen due to agitations, it will now have an enhanced cosmopolitan feel and Chandrababu Naidu will be no threat to the IT industry of Telangana.
Excerpts from the interview:
The industry has seen repeated bandhs over the Telangana issue, which has led to a sense of apprehension. What can you assure industry as well as the IT professionals from across the country and Seemandhra working here?
The agitations were for a specific purpose, which has been achieved. Therefore there is no need for any apprehensions. It is a sad thing but in this country there is no other way to register a protest. It was the leadership in Delhi that delayed the decision for so long, and sadly a decision was taken only after so many people lost their lives.
We have promised the people of Telangana that we will improve their lives, and we will now deliver on the promises.
The political issues will remain as there are no two southern states, which do not have disputes over the sharing of water. The bandh call for Polavaram was technically before the government was formed. We are serious about the two lakh tribals in the Polavaram-affected villages, and now we will fight it out in the SC. I can assure that there will be no political witch-hunt, absolutely no political vendetta.
Mr Chandrababu Naidu is expected to bring about a IT revolution in AP. How do you plan to compete?
Investors will remain in Hyderabad as long as it is profitable for them. I plan to build on and enhance the brand image of Hyderabad. No businessman will go away from Hyderabad over regional affiliations. While Hyderabad belongs to Telangana, it also belongs to the entire country, and it will retain its cosmopolitan feel, and we will enhance it further.
After the past few years of apprehensions in the IT sector, I will focus on bringing the sector back on track. Whoever has already invested in Hyderabad, we want them to stay and also expand, and we want to attract more investments. Andhra Pradesh can grow but Hyderabad will not lose its edge. The ITIR project will take Hyderabad to the next level of growth.
What challenges are you are expecting?
One of the biggest challenges will be to develop the other parts of the state and the power shortage is a big challenge. The challenge would be to concentrate on developing the remaining half of the state (apart from extended Hyderabad), which is rich in resources. We need more power to increase irrigation potential. The challenge is not only to spur the growth of different sectors in the remaining part of the state but also structure Hyderabad to have equitable growth.
What are the positives you hope to bank on?
While many have been saying that Hyderabad has low real estate rates, I see it as a huge advantage. For any company that wants to set up an office here, the low cost of real estate can be a big attraction. Also housing is cheaper here. If we take Bengaluru and Chennai, Hyderabad has a clear advantage.
While Bengaluru has only one-third the infrastructure of Hyderabad, the real estate is three times costlier. In Chennai again, the infrastructure is again one third of Hyderabad while the real estate cost is double. In addition to this all the incentives that were available earlier will be retained by the new government.
What are your plans to expand the IT industry in Hyderabad, bringing in new companies and developing clusters across the state?
The current IT corridor, which extends from Gachibowli up to Adibatla, is where the ITIR (Information Technology Investment Region) is coming up. For developing IT our focus will be on the ITIR. ITIR will take Hyderabad to the next level of growth, and we want to expedite it. This will result in a huge jump in employment.
For the remaining five districts of the state, which are not covered by extended Hyderabad, the idea is to develop other industries that will provide employment to people there, and keep them from migrating to Hyderabad. We have to improve power supply and irrigation in other districts, and must also exploit our resources.
What new facilities are you planning?
The growth spurt that was expected from the ORR (Outer Ring Road) has unfortunately not come. Therefore we are planning Regional Ring Roads connecting the main city through radial roads across the ORR. While we have the IT corridor from Gachibowli up to Adibatla, the growth is lopsided along the ORR.
We plan to develop a Pharma Park, which will provide infrastructure for Pharmaceutical companies; an education park bringing in education and research institutions; a leisure and amusement park, and a Sports City for multiple sports academies.
Also since the entire development now is towards the west side creating new hubs along ORR will help growth.
How do you plan to address the mounting security concerns in the IT corridor and the rest of the city?
We are planning to enhance security in the IT corridor as well as the city. We need 3,000 cameras in Cyberabad alone while another 7,000 cameras are needed for the rest of the city. We have only 315 cameras now, and the plan is to increase their number. I want information technology companies to sponsor them as part of their CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) so that the city’s security cover improves.
