Shabbir Ali accepts K T Rama Rao's challenge

He said that while Krishna Phase-I was launched in 1994 with an outlay of Rs 1,000 crore, Phase-II (Rs 606.50 crore) and Phase III (Rs 1650 crore) were initiated in 2006 and 2013 respectively. Similarly, Godavari drinking water scheme for Hyderabad was launched in December 2008 at a cost of Rs 3,725 crore. “KTR is trying to create an impression that these projects were launched during TRS rule,” he said.

While IT exports grew from Rs 5,025 crore in 2003-04 to Rs 57,000 crore in 2013-14, IT jobs increased from 85,945 to 323,691 during the decade of Congress rule. As many as 12 Special Economic Zones around Hyderabad were now operational. Similarly, the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH) was transformed into Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) on April 16, 2007, by merging 12 municipalities and 8 gram panchayats. This gave a major boost to civic body’s funds for development.

While the MCH had an annual budget of Rs 680.69 crore in 2004-05, the GHMC’s budget for 2014-15 was Rs 5,599 crore, he said. Mr Shabbir Ali also accused the TRS government of delaying Hyderabad Metro Rail project by 18 months while objecting to its route. “KCR took a U-turn after causing financial losses of nearly Rs 2100 crore. His son KTR has described Metro Rail as world-class after enjoying its test run recently. What prompted KCR to first object to the route and then what convinced him to accept that the original design was perfect? Why should public money be spent to entertain KCR or KTR’s lack of wisdom in understanding a project?” he asked.