Hyderabad: Telangana’s IT minister, K.T. Rama Rao, had no clue that he would end up as chief guest for the inaugural ceremony of the four-day aviation industry event, Wings India 2018, held in Begumpet on Thursday. Union civil aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, who was directed to resign from his ministerial post by Telugu Desam supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu late on Wednesday, was supposed to inaugurate the event.
“Politics sometimes thrusts upon you responsibilities for which you are not prepared. Until this morning I had no clue that minister of civil aviation Shri Ashok Gajapathi Raju has put in his papers. So, as things would have it, I ended up as chief guest,” Mr Rama Rao said. He complimented Mr Gajapathi Raju for increasing the number of airports and flights in the country.
Mr Rao said that the Telangana government is now exploring the feasibility of sea-plane projects to connect with other cities using Hussain Sagar Lake as the hub. Pointing out that Telangana is one of the most vibrant aviation and aerospace hubs in the country, Mr Rao said, “Shamshabad airport is one of the fastest growing major airports in the country, handling around 18 million passengers and over 135,000 MT of cargo every year and is consistently ranked no. 1 in its category for the past several years.”
He noted that while the airport is playing a crucial role in the expansion of the pharmaceutical and aerospace sector, it has an exclusive ‘Pharma Zone’ with world class cargo infrastructure and modern handling methods, meeting global quality standards. “The state is keen to make Warangal airport functional, to give a boost to the Mega Textile Park and IT hub launched in the city,” he said.
