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Giving an early glimpse into the Telangana government’s new initiatives on the industrial development front, Governor ESL Narasimhan on Wednesday announced the setting up of a pharma city for further expansion of the industry in the region.
Telangana accounts for one-third of the pharma production in the country and to maintain this growth and give a further boost, the state government would lay emphasis on expansion of existing pharma, bio-tech and other industries, he said.
“We wish to promote a pharma city as one of the satellite townships, which will have government-run effluent treatment services to have complete pollution management. This will attract further investments in this sector in the coming years,” Narasimhan said while addressing the first joint session of the state legislative Assembly.
The decision is expected to be a huge positive for the pharma industry in Hyderabad as many big companies had to establish their second base in north-coastal Andhra owing to the constraints related to pollution concerns in the existing location. Companies like Dr Reddy’s and Aurobindo have lined up huge investments for expanding capacities this year.
Besides, the state government would promote an industrial corridor between Hyderabad and Warangal to boost employment opportunities, he said.
A newly-expanded six-lane national highway connects the Warangal city, about 146 km from here, with the state capital and runs beyond Warangal to provide connectivity with mineral-rich Chhattisgarh. The Hyderabad-Warangal corridor is expected to provide an ideal environment for the growth of industries.
To put a model system of single window clearance for industrial projects, a special chasing cell would be attached to the chief minister’s office to give speedy clearances to the upcoming units with zero corruption and no harassment to potential investors, the Governor said. The government would also formulate the best industry policy to give the required boost to the economy, he said.
In an effort to get over the power problem, the government would facilitate the NTPC to set up a 4,000-Mw thermal power plant by providing the land and water required for the project and would also develop an additional 2,000 Mw capacity under the state-owned Telangana Genco.
“We will also establish on war footing the requisite grid lines and distribution networks in order to purchase and supply power from the state of Chhattisgarh within the next three years. With all these coordinated efforts, we will make Telangana a surplus power state,” the Governor said.
Apart from reiterating some of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS)’s election promises like farm loan waiver up to Rs 1 lakh and 12 per cent reservation to STs and minorities, the Governor also announced new steps in agriculture including development of Telangana into specific crop-colonies and exemption of taxes for agriculture tractors.
The government also promised to provide compulsory and free education to the needy from KG to PG with CBSE syllabus in English medium.
