Hyderabad: Telangana IT minister KT Rama Rao on Monday appealed to a delegation of German investors that they have to look beyond Delhi and Mumbai to expand and consolidate business in India. He said that even though the trade agreements happen at the level of the central government, action in terms of business takes place in the states.
KTR attended the German Investor’s summit that took place at Taj Krishna hotel, Banjara Hills and explained in a very detailed manner why Telangana is a great place to invest.
“The first thing you need is a chunk of land to set up operations. In Telangana, we have more than 2,00,000 acres of land readily available for industrial usage. We have Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TSIIC) which will facilitate the transfer of land either through a leasehold or a freehold so that you can start your factory,” he said.
The IT minister then talked about the supply of electricity in the state and how it is efficient.
We are ensuring 24/7 electricity supply to all sectors; to industry, agriculture and every household. We also take a lot of pride in the fact that 15 percent of energy produced and supplied comes from renewable sources like solar and wind. We are the second largest renewable energy-producing state in the country. Our commitment to the environment, Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and cleantech is something that we take pride in,” he said.
KTR then went on to explain the uniqueness and benefits of the Telangana State Industrial Project Approval and Self Certification System (TS-iPass) that the state assembly approved in 2014.
“The second thing I would imagine you require is clearances. We excel in speedy approvals. TS-iPass is very unique. No other state in India has a similar policy. It is truly a single-window policy. There is a joke in India that every state promises a single-window system but there are multiple windows behind it. But in the case of Telangana, backed by statute, we do promise and deliver a truly single window system. If you have a piece of land approved by legislation, you can start construction of your factory on Day 1 without any clearance or approval from the local government. You can simultaneously apply on the TS-ipass portal to the government for regulatory purposes. Once we receive your application, we only take 15 days to deliver a yes or a no answer to you. If we do not give you a yes or a no answer in 15 days, on the 16th day, it is a deemed yes. No other state in India will tell you this,” he asserted.
The state IT minister then spoke about bureaucratic accountability in speedy approvals.
“The third thing is accountability. On the 16th day, the law (TS-iPass) empowers us to penalize even our bureaucrats to the sum of Rs 1000 per day till such time they actually clear that specific application. This again, no state in India will tell you,” he added.
KTR stated that all these statements regarding ease of business in the state are more than just mere words and have converted to ground level successes.
“We have given a total of 17500 approvals so far all in a time-bound manner, less than 15 days, many cleared under a period less than 11 days and 10 days. We have attracted more than 32-33 billion dollars of investment in the last 7 years. What makes us happy is that 24 percent of business is from repeat customers who already had a base in Telangana,” he added.
