KCR meets Modi, seeks special status for Telangana

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao Saturday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the national capital and demanded special category status and tax incentives for his state.

KCR, as the chief minister is popularly known, sought special status for Telangana even as his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N. Chandrababu Naidu stepped up his efforts to get similar status for his truncated state.

The Andhra Pradesh assembly Thursday passed a resolution urging the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government to grant special category status to Andhra Pradesh as promised by then prime minister Manmohan Singh in parliament during the debate on the state reorganisation bill in February.

KCR had made the same demand during his first meeting with Modi in June.

The chief minister also called on President Pranab Mukherjee.

During the meeting with Modi, he also demanded development of the Hyderabad-Warangal industrial corridor and the 4,000 MW plant by the NTPC Ltd.

A delegation led by the chief minister discussed with Modi 21 issues related to the state, ranging from special category status to electricity.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader in Lok Sabha Jitender Reddy told reporters after the meeting that they sought setting up a separate high court for Andhra Pradesh as the existing high court in Hyderabad is catering to both the states.

KCR also briefed Modi of the intensive household survey conducted in the state last month.

The delegation explained the objective of the survey and how the data would help in identifying the real beneficiaries of various welfare schemes.

The chief minister invited Modi to inaugurate the 11th Metropolis World Congress scheduled to be held in Hyderabad next month.

Mayors and delegates from 60 countries are expected to attend the four-day conference, beginning Oct 7.

The chief minister also called on Union Minister of State for Power Piyush Goyal.

The central minister told reporters after the meeting that a 1,000 MW solar power plant will be set up in Mahabubnagar.

He said that as per the reorganization bill, 4,000 MW power should be produced in Telangana. Under the first phase, 1,320 MW will be generated.

KCR briefed the central minister about the problem faced by the state in meeting its electricity demand. He sought coal allocation for power plants and wanted the central government to treat Telangana as a special case.