Telangana approved 3,938 projects with investments totalling ₹17,867 crore under its flagship TS-iPASS initiative for industries during the fiscal ended March 31, 2022.
The projects will create 96,863 jobs, according to the 2021-22 annual report of State’s Industries and Commerce Department that Minister for Industries K. T. Rama Rao released, in the presence of a host of industry leaders, here on Monday.
A policy measure on the back of which the State has been successful in wooing investors from both India and abroad, the Telangana State Industrial Project Approval and Self-Certification System assures time-bound clearances for projects failing which they are deemed to be approved. In the seven years since launch, TS-iPASS got the State ₹2,32,311 crore investments by way of 19,454 projects with a potential to create 16.49 lakh jobs.
Of these, 15,660 projects involving investments of ₹1,33,225 crore have commenced operations. The total employment in these projects is nearly 9.94 lakh, the report said.
In terms of industries where substantial investments have been committed in FY-22, Life Sciences sector got approvals for 215 projects worth ₹6,400 crore (over $850 million), including $100 million Canada’s Ivanhoe Cambridge has announced on creation of about 1 million sq ft lab space in Genome Valley, near here. The Food Processing sector attracted ₹2,309 crore investment through 60 projects. The State Food Processing Policy seeks to encourage enterprises across 10,000 acres of special food processing zones.
Aerospace and defence; handlooms and textiles; and electric mobility are some of the other major focus sectors.
Raising the bar
Telangana has come to be mentioned in the same breath as some of the industrially well-settled States such as Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat “which have been there for a very long time,” the Minister said in his address. The strides Telangana has made, in the eight years since formation, assume greater significance when seen in the context of the State government’s emphasis on an innovation-driven, infrastructure-led, inclusive growth. “We have raised the bar in policy making...” he said.
Underscoring the importance of India developing infrastructure at a greater scale, Mr. Rama Rao said the Centre must incentivise performing States like Telangana. Instead, the Centre has neither sanctioned any of the six industrial corridors the State mooted from Hyderabad nor extended special industrial incentives, as promised at the time of the State formation, he added.
Stronger States
“Remember stronger the States, stronger the country,” he said, highlighting the need for Centre to encourage and support States irrespective of their political affiliations. “Economics has to take centre stage, politics a backseat...,” the Minister said, pointing out that the State was not getting its due despite Prime Minister’s stress on Team India and cooperative federalism.
“We have to work together,” he said, listing agriculture, fisheries, dairy development, meat processing and oil palm as areas where Telangana is poised to witness the next level of growth.
Industries Secretary Jayesh Ranjan said: “despite the partial COVID related slowdown, Telangana has been able to attract record number of investments in FY-22 and the momentum is growing.”
