Telangana to host global investors' meet next year

The Telangana government plans to host a global investors' meet in February-March next year, state Information Technology Minister K. Tarakarama Rao said on Thursday.

He told reporters that many investment proposals which are in the pipeline are likely to be sealed during the meet.

The minister, who visited the US to attract investment and is leaving for Taiwan and Hong Kong next week, said Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao also planned to visit various countries to promote the newly-created state after unveiling the new industrial policy next month.

Tarakarama Rao, who is the son of the chief minister, said investors both in India and abroad were welcoming the new policy, under which the investors will get a right to timely clearance of the projects.

"If the state fails to clear or reject a proposal for a mega project in 15 days, on the 16th day it will be deemed to have been approved and the state will be liable for penal action," he said.

He said no state even in the US has such an industrial policy and hoped that this will help Telangana attract new investment and create more jobs.

KTR, as the minister is popularly known, said the government has identified 14 thrust areas under the industrial policy. The investment in Hyderabad will be attracted in three sectors - IT, life sciences and aerospace.

The minister announced that the former US ambassador to India Frank Wisner has agreed to be a goodwill ambassador for Telangana.

He said the government was focusing on developing new IT clusters around Greater Hyderabad, which permeates into five districts and accounts for 40 percent of the state's population and 30 percent of the land area.

Stating that the IT sector in Hyderabad provides direct employment to four lakh people, he said the government planned to double it by 2019. "The indirect employment is five times more. The new investments will create lakhs of more jobs," he said.

The minister said Hyderabad would focus on new technologies like cyber security, data analytics, cloud technology and mobility to regain the first mover advantage it lost to Bengaluru.

He also announced that a tower for small and medium enterprises will be built in IT corridor of Gacchibowli.