Hyderabad: IT and Industries Minister K. Tarakarama Rao participated in a discussion with Tech Mahindra CEO CP Gurnani on ‘March to 5 Trillion Economy: Reality or ambitious’ at the 28th Nasscom Technology and Leadership Forum 2020 in Mumbai.
During the session, Minister KTR stated that 5 Trillion Economy can be achieved only when the union government takes bold decisions.
He also stated that when the union government talks about ‘Team India’ ‘Cooperative Federalism ‘ it should also practice fiscal federalism.
The Government of India needs to give states more access to the capital and be liberal when it comes to Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) limits. Only then the nation will develop at a faster pace, he opined.
Minister KTR highlighted the three “I” mantra and said, “What India needs today is innovation, infrastructure and inclusive growth.
Minister KTR said that India needs to do a lot more work when it comes to the innovation sector.
Talking about building infrastructure, he stated that the Telangana government spent around 1 lakh 60 thousand crores on Capital Expenditure during 2014-19. Talking about the Telangana government’s work in building infrastructure, the Minister mentioned about Kaleshwaram project and Mission Bhagiratha.
Talking about inclusive growth, he said “India cannot only grow in its cities. We have to take care of smaller towns and villages.
Minister said that while cutting edge and emerging technologies can come up in larger cities, the IT industry needs to shift its focus to tier two cities.
Minister KTR stated that there was an economic slowdown in the country during 2017-18 and 2018-19. “To make it to USD 5 trillion by 2025, the country needs to grow at 10% and for that the three ‘I’ mantra has to be implemented across the country and the Telangana model can be emulated by each and every state.
Only then more infusion into infrastructure, capital expenditure, and assets creation will take place. And only then will we be able to reach the target,” he said.
During the debate, Minister KTR said, “IT, banking, financial services, tourism, and hospitality are the sectors which can be further augmented with a well-planned strategy and I think the Government of India needs to focus on these sectors where the states can be allowed to play a larger role in tandem with the Government of India.”
To compete with any large manufacturing economy or a country, we need to leverage our scale. He stated that Telangana is the only State that has come up with projects which are on a global scale.
Mentioning about Hyderabad Pharma City and Kakatiya Mega Textile Park, the Minister said that the Telangana government has approached the Government of India and asked for support in building these projects into world-class parks. But the Union government did not extend support, he said. (INN)