Seemandhra could become major agricultural belt:Murugappa

With the formation of Telangana and Seemandhra, the entire eastern belt in that region could become a "major agricultural belt" due to the presence of rich climatic and soil conditions, a top industry official said today.
"There is a great opportunity in Seemandhra. I think they have five climatic zones. I think it is going to be a big agricultural belt. With the focus of the new government more on agricultural side -- rice, chillies, cotton, pulses and gram will be big crops," Murugappa Group Executive Chairman A Vellayan told reporters here.
Besides, he said Seemandhra has the right climatic and soil conditions. "If you have proper irrigation and set up, it could become a major agri-state. Only thing missing is the availability of power," he said.

"I think with the new (Seemandhra) government having partnership with the BJP government at the Centre they would benefit from the Centre," he said.
On whether Murugappa Group would tap that opportunity in Seemandhra, he said: "We are having a small team to see what best we can do. We have presence right from Srikakulam on one side to Kakinada and Vishakapatnam on the other side."
Later responding to a query on whether the company would look at entering China, Vellayan sought to know in a lighter vein whether he would make a tourist visit to China instead of tapping business operations.

"I am sure that China has a major play in various things. One (industrialist) cannot ignore China. Even we do not make money in China, but we have to be in China to understand the market dynamics," he said.

However, he clarified that the company would maintain its presence in China, but not make "large investments".
"I think we are just opening a small set up for fertiliser and pesticide. Largely, raw material import related in Shanghai. That we have been already doing. But our presence will largely be in trading, sourcing," he said.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief K Chandrasekhar Rao on June 2 took over as the first Chief Minister of Telangana, which was formed as the 29th state of the Union, ending decades of turbulent struggle for the region in Andhra Pradesh.