Published Jul 29, 2022 | 8:24 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 29, 2022 | 8:25 PM
Telangana IT Minister KT Rama Rao. (Supplied)
Coming down heavily on the Central government for scrapping the Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) project for Hyderabad, Telangana IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao said on Friday, 29 July, that it had cheated the people of the country yet again.
His diatribe came after Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Rajeev Chandrasekhar stated in Parliament that the ITIR project for Hyderabad stands scrapped.
“It is in their (BJP party) DNA to easily lie about anything and MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar has effortlessly done the same thing now,” said the TRS leader in a statement.
KTR came down heavily on the Union government also for claiming to have granted other projects that are enough to compensate for the ITIR Project.
“The Modi government has scrapped the ITIR project because the TRS is politically opposing it. They are indulging in cheap politics,” he said.
The Central government — then headed by the Congress — proposed the ITIR project for Hyderabad in 2008, and approved it in 2013.
“No separate Detailed Project Report was received in this office in 2016 in this regard either as a follow up to the project report that was already submitted along with the proposal in 2010 or as any additional project report,” said Sanjay Dhotre, then Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology in 2021 in parliament.
However, the Detailed Project Report was made in December 2013 by undivided Andhra Pradesh and is available to the public on the government’s website.
KTR said the state’s IT sector had registered a higher growth rate than India’s total IT growth, withstanding the adverse economic conditions forced on the nation due to the apparently thoughtless, unwise decisions of demonetization, lockdown, and overall policy paralysis.
He added that Telangana’s IT ecosystem would have grown in leaps and bounds had the ITIR project been implemented.
“The Modi government has proved to be a curse on Telangana as it shelved the project just like some other projects and the promises made in the AP Reorganisation Act,” said KTR.
He added that the state’s IT sector lost a great opportunity to further grow with the scrapping of the Project.
He also claimed that there was no contribution from the Union government to the growth story of the IT sector of Hyderabad.
KTR claimed he and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao made multiple pleas on the topic to Modi and Union ministers on their every visit to New Delhi.
There was no positive response even after continuous persuasion from the state’s side, he said.
KTR demanded the Modi government apologise to the youth of Telangana for failing to deliver the promises he made.
He also said the BJP had no proper policy for skilling and job creation in the country.
KTR demanded that the prime minister explain the loss incurred to Hyderabad due to the scrapping of the ITIR project.
He stated that it was incorrect on the part of the Union government to say that the project was scrapped because it sanctioned smart cities and industrial corridors for Telangana.
“Telangana did not benefit even from the schemes that the Union government claims to have extended,” KTR said.
“This shows the intellectual bankruptcy of the Modi government,” he added.
