KTR interacts with Mayors of Carmel in US

Hyderabad, May 25 (INN): Information Technology Minister K Tarakarama Rao interacted with Mayors of Carmel and Indianapolis - cities that made their mark with best practices in local governance.

During the interaction with KTR at Carmel City Hall, Mayor James Brainard explained how they carry out the functions of drinking water supply, electricity distribution, public transport and sewage management. The two also discussed the public private partnership and other models to raise funds for fueling the infrastructure projects.

Mayor James Brainard said that citizens extend full cooperation for the development of Carmel City by paying taxes in time and in full. KTR then was taken on a tour of City Hall building where the Minister sought to know how the local body's meetings are held and how citizens are made part of them.

The IT Minister enquired about the implementation of smart technologies in the administration of City of Carmel. He asked IT Secretary Jayesh Ranjan to get full details of City Management Software through which Vehicular Traffic, Water and Electricity Supply are being tracked live in Carmel. The Minister also examined the mobile app used by Carmel citizens for registering the grievances.

Minister in the afternoon met Joe Hogsett, Mayor of Indianapolis. The discussion revolved around city planning and administration. Mayor Joe Hogsett elaborated on the Bus Rapid Transit System built to support the expanding city and growing population. The city is raising funds for creating basic infrastructure through Municipal Bonds, Joe said.

After completing the meetings with the Mayors, the Minister said some of the best practices from the two cities of Carmel and Indianapolis can be replicated in Hyderabad.

Industries Principal Secretary Arvind Kumar and ITE&C Secretary Jayesh Ranjan accompanied the Minister.

Interactive Intelligence keen to expand Hyderabad operations

On the second day of the USA visit, KTR met leaders of reputed IT, Healthcare companies in Indianapolis.

The Minister and the accompanying delegation of officials met CEO of Envista Corporation and discussed its expansion plans in Hyderabad.

Envista is a supply chain consulting and IT services company, based out of Indianapolis. During the interaction, KTR explained that it is the right time to expand Envista Inc operations in India, owing to an explosion in Indian retail market. The Minster assured Envista of all cooperation if it decides to expand operations in Hyderabad.

The Minister then met the leadership team of Interactive Intelligence, a global leader of cloud services for customer engagement, communications and collaboration.

The senior functionaries of Interactive Intelligence appreciated the Telangana Government's proactive approach in solving the power shortage issue in the State. They remarked that Hyderabad's culture is very warm and welcoming. The company officials also said that people from other cities in the country love to work in Hyderabad.

After discussions with the Minister the Interactive Intelligence leadership assured that they would soon be expanding their operations in Hyderabad, Telangana.

Minister visits Indiana Economic Development Corporation

Later in the day, KTR met Steve Akard, Chief of Staff, Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) at its office. The IEDC is State of Indiana's lead economic development agency.

Steve gave a high level overview about the various sectors that Indiana is popular for and on how the agency promotes Indiana as an ideal State for investors. The IEDC team explained about how the agency collaborates with various stakeholders and promotes the State. KTR had an in-depth discussion to understand the various initiatives of IEDC to promote Indiana. Minister was keen to explore possibilities of investments in the Medical Devices sector. He explained threadbare about the various initiatives Telangana government is taking to improve the ease of doing business ranking of the State.

The Minister sought more information about the branding efforts of IEDC and how the agency collaborates with Universities to foster innovation and spur economic activity in the region.

KTR and Steve Akard agreed to continue and strengthen the sister city relationship that Hyderabad and Indianapolis currently share.