Telangana Rising Policies Impress All, Says Sridhar Babu

In an exclusive interview with Deccan Chronicle from Davos, Sridhar Babu noted that the Telangana Rising delegation this time focused on highlighting the vibrant policies of the government and ecosystem prevailing in the state and successfully drew attention from global industry leaders. As a result, over Rs 30,000 crore deals have been signed, he said.

The minister clarified that the Davos visit was not focused on signing MoUs as the government had already secured over 50 worth `5.75 lakh crore at the Telangana Rising Global Summit 2025 on December 8-9 last year.

Sridhar Babu said the team effectively promoted Bharat Future City to global leaders. They showed keen interest in India's first net-zero smart city, to be developed by three Singapore-based consortiums into a 30,000-acre sustainable urban hub for industry, social forestry, skilling, and green pharma. Groundbreaking by the consortium is likely next month, he announced.

He highlighted a strong response from pharma leaders in Basel, Switzerland's cultural capital with world-class museums and a premier hub for pharmaceuticals and life sciences — home to giants like Novartis and Roche, much like Hyderabad. Basel is widely regarded as the heart of the Swiss pharma sector and one of Europe's top life sciences locations.

Sridhar Babu noted that Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy outlined the state's new economic strategy during interactions with state heads, CEOs, and MNC leaders at Davos. This divides Telangana into three zones: CURE (Core Urban Region Economy) for planned urban services, PURE (Peri-Urban Region Economy) for manufacturing and peri-urban growth, and RARE (Rural Agriculture Region Economy) for sustainable farming — aiming for a $3 trillion economy by 2047 through pollution management and specialised growth in each area.

Industry leaders expressed interest in investing at the NIMZ in Zaheerabad. New states like Assam and Jharkhand joined this year with their chief ministers, alongside regulars like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh, intensifying the competition.

Swiss industrialists showed keen interest in Telangana at the Indo-Swiss Business Forum, aided by the India-Switzerland free trade agreement sealed last year, Sridhar Babu claimed. Members of `Swiss Business Hub India' have been invited to visit the state and have accepted.

Breaking from the norm of releasing policy documents in the state, the team unveiled the Next-Gen Life Sciences Policy 2026-30' at Davos. This policy aims to shift Telangana from scale-driven manufacturing to value-led, innovation-powered growth, targeting 5 lakh new jobs over the next five years through $25 billion in investments. The delegation also signed an MoU with Blaize Inc. to launch the Telangana AI Innovation Hub — not a standalone policy, but a strategic step toward positioning the state as a global center for applied artificial intelligence, explained Sridhar Babu.

Amid growing focus on new-age technologies like quantum computing and AI, the summit also drew positive responses to Telangana's first-ever MSME policy, expected to generate maximum employment in supply chains, he added.

Comparing this summit with the previous two, Sridhar Babu observed that India's prominence is fast growing due to evolving geopolitical conditions, boosting the country's relevance and weightage.