Industry upbeat on new Telangana State

Hyderabad: With the new state of Telangana becoming a reality and first T government led by K Chandrasekhar Rao assuming charge on Monday, industry is now upbeat about the prospects of faster industrial development across the 29th state of the country.

'I am confident that KCR and his team will aggressively pursue the development of industries across Telangana. This was evident from the way KCR spoke about industrial sector on Monday.

TRS manifesto also outlined elaborate plans for industrial development which will lead to progress of overall state,' said M Venkateshwarlu, President, Telangana Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Tecci).

He is of firm belief that new Telangana government will announce new industrial policy with attractive incentives, within a month.

'We can expect new industrial policy by end of June or early July as KCR is very keen on the need for giving fillip to industrial sector,' he said. The Tecci is preparing a document on the ways and means to encourage the crucial sector. It will submit the document to the government soon.

According to him, the new government should focus on power including solar energy, manufacturing and solid waste management besides IT.

'There is also need to attract large-scale foreign direct investment (FDI) into the new state. We are in the process of identifying some countries which are ready to lend loans at lower interest rates besides investing in Telangana,' he said.

Tecci appreciated the new government for its efforts to formulate single window clearance system for industries and attach it to the Chief Minister's Office for effective implementation.

APK Reddy, President, Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises of Andhra Pradesh (FSMEAP), urged the new government to lift power restrictions immediately and provide continuous power to the industries, besides releasing pending incentives.

'Nearly 65 per cent of SMEs in undivided Andhra Pradesh are located in 28 industrial estates spread across Ranga Reddy, Nalgonda and Medak districts. Many of them turned NPAs due to various power crisis and other problems,' he said, urging the government to get the loans of such units restructured.

According to him, industrial policy announced by earlier AP government was best in the country. 'It would be more than enough if the new government adopts it and implements effectively,' he added.

Pointing out that industry had suffered badly in the past three to four years, J Nageswara Rao, President, Federation of Andhra Pradesh Small Industries Association (Fapsia), said the new government should announce industry-friendly industrial policy with good incentives so that new entrepreneurs would come forward to set up new units in the state.

'There are a large number of unemployed engineers who will be happy to establish industries if government offers incentives and other encouragements,' he stated.

According to him, there is should be adequate power for the industries. Besides, land acquisition costs should also be reduced so that new entrepreneurs need not invest heavily on the land.

On the earlier government's move to shift industries from the heart of Hyderabad to the areas close to outer ring road (ORR), he said the new government might not pursue it as shifting of industries would involve lot of cost.

'It is better if government developments new industrial clusters there instead of shifting the existing ones,' he asserted.

Meanwhile, Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Fapcci) congratulated K Chandrasekhar Rao on his assuming charge of Chief Minister of Telangana. 'Fapcci looks forward to rapid development of industry, trade and commerce in Telangana under the leadership of the Chief Minister and his council of ministers,' it added.