India needs to replicate Telangana model, says KTR at 'Ideas for India' meet in London

HYDERABAD: Proudly presenting the success story of Telangana to the world, IT and Industries Minister K T Rama Rao (KTR) has stressed the need to replicate its growth model to fully exploit the potential of India.

He said this while speaking at the 'Ideas for India' conference in London on Saturday. The event was organized by the global advisory firm EPG in conjunction with Bridge India.

KTR highlighted the remarkable progress made by the state in the last nine years. He emphasised Telangana's success in achieving five developmental revolutions in the field of agriculture and allied sectors.

Focussing on India's potential for development, he stressed the need for investing in human resources to create opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship. “India has indeed many natural advantages. The country is blessed with abundant natural resources, minerals and enough resources to produce adequate energy. It has large water resources such as rivers, lakes and water bodies, enough to irrigate its farmlands and supply drinking water to all citizens and its industry. But more importantly, it has a great resource - the human resource,” he said.

He was optimistic that, by doing things right, what China could achieve in 30 years, India could do it in less than 20 years. He felt that India should capitalise on the demographic dividend as 67 percent of the population is in the age group of 15 to 64, which is the highest number of the working population any country had in the entire history of mankind.

“To make India a developed nation, we need to train the youth to create alternative modes of employment and provide them with many opportunities in employment and entrepreneurship,” the Minister said.

Fast-tracking development

Presenting the story of Telangana as India’s successful startup state, KTR mentioned that the state had undergone a revolutionary transformation in just nine years to become a pioneer State. “We have gone back to solve the fundamental problems and we have substantively fast-tracked various revolutions,” he said.

He then narrated how Telangana became a frontrunner-state in development and welfare and how the state ushered in five revolutions in the agriculture and allied sectors. “Telangana was considered an arid region, where the lakes and tanks in villages were running dry, where people dug multiple bore wells, sometimes resulting in farmer suicides because of the financial burdens, where people suffered from fluorosis. Now it is a lush green state, where a farmer can grow two crops a year. Because of what we did in irrigation, farmer welfare, and other reforms, Telangana has ushered in five revolutions,” the Minister added.

He enlisted the novel policy interventions and unique schemes introduced by the Telangana government and highlighted the achievements of Telangana in sectors such as power, health, rural development, economy, and others. “Telangana’s per capita income grew more than 2.5 times, and we now stand to be the number one in the country. A state with a 2.5 percent population contributes to 5 percent of India’s GDP,” he added.

The IT and Industries Minister brought to the notice of the audience that Hyderabad was home to marquee tech companies and an emerging hub for innovation. “We built T-Hub, the world's largest startup incubator. T-Works, India’s largest prototyping center. We-Hub, India’s first women entrepreneur incubator. TSIC, to help rural innovators. TASK is the largest finishing school to orient graduating youth. While we continue to focus on improving our infrastructure and industry, we have not lost sight of the commitment to our environment,” KTR said.

“Under the flagship “Haritha Haaram” program, we have undertaken one of the largest green initiatives in human history. We planted 24 billion saplings. As a State, we achieved the highest green cover growth in India, of 7 percent.” he added.

Quoting Victor Hugo, the Minister said, “Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come” and the Telangana model is an idea whose time has come. “As India, the country has to focus on the fundamentals the way Telangana did. We need to focus on the farmer, the youth while creating a future that is based on innovation and making India a leader in the fourth Industrial Revolution,” he remarked.

KTR was hopeful that, by doing things right, India could increase the per capita income by 6 to 8 times in the next 20 years. “If we do it right this time, we would surely become one of the most developed nations in the world,” he added.