Why KTR thinks global players should route India investments via state govts
Port of entry and implementation are critical, and it's the state governments that can best handle these, says the Telangana minister
Union ministers and Central bureaucrats attending the World Economic Forum (WEF) meet in Davos, Switzerland is par for the routine. This year, though, it was the turn of the state governments to make a splash at the global event.
“At least five states made their presence felt at the meeting, including Maharashtra, the home to India’s business capital, Mumbai,” said the WEF in a report titled ‘India at Davos 2022: 5 highlights from the annual meeting’. Once there, the states aggressively sought investors, speaking to government representatives, MNCs and entrepreneurs. They actively scouted for mega projects that would help their governments in three key ways – they would boost the economy, offer hundreds of jobs, and enhance their images as business-friendly dispensations.
This is how global investors should channel their investments in India – by engaging directly with state governments – according to Telangana IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao, popularly known as KTR. “State governments are key to implementing investment projects,” he said at an event in Hyderabad earlier this week.
Routing investments
KTR reiterated in an official forum what chief ministers are increasingly telling global investors – route investments through state governments, rather than the Union government since, after all, it’s the states that finally implement the projects.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj S Bommai, his Andhra Pradesh counterpart YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Maharashtra Environment Minister Aditya Thackeray, apart from KTR, were among those who actively wooed investments at Davos earlier this month. In March, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin went with a team to attract investments at the Dubai Expo.
At Davos, Karnataka struck gold with a renewable energy company signing an MoU to invest Rs 50,000 crore in the state in the next seven years. Another MoU was signed with Lulu International Group for an investment of Rs 2,000 crore in the state. The Lulu Group plans to open four shopping malls, a hypermarket and an export-oriented agri-processing unit, projects that are expected to create employment opportunities for 10,000 people in Karnataka.
Telangana was not far behind. Ahead of Davos, KTR was in the UK to talk to potential investors. Leading the Telangana delegation, KTR attended a series of meetings, interacted with top executives of global corporations, and participated in panel discussions.
He tweeted on the conclusion of his trip, “An extremely productive trip comes to an end! It’s a fruitful and fulfilling 10-day trip to the UK and World Economic Forum, Davos. 45 business meetings, 4 round table meetings, 4 panel discussions and over Rs 4,200 crore of investments. A big thanks to my team and Telangana diaspora for making it a huge success.”
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After attending back-to-back meetings with various business leaders in the UK, KTR reached Davos, where he again met representatives of several organisations.
Investments in various sectors
The German auto parts maker ZF is all set to inaugurate its newest facility centre in Hyderabad. The ZF facility centre, which was constructed at Nanakramguda with a cost of about Rs 322 crore, will be inaugurated on June 1. The proposed facility will create job opportunities for about 3,000 people.
KTR also welcomed Swiss Re, the world’s largest insurance company to Telangana, which will set up its office in Hyderabad in August 2022. Swiss Re is a 160-year-old insurance organisation, headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland and operates in 80 locations globally.
Also announcing its intention to set up its facility in Hyderabad was Meesho, an e-commerce company which said it would work with the state government to onboard retail sellers in Tier-II towns in the state.
The Lulu Group announced that it will invest Rs 500 crore in Telangana. It will start its operations in the food processing sector in the state with a huge investment of Rs 500 crore.
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KTR also met chairman of Bharti Enterprises (Airtel) Sunil Bharti Mittal, and vice chairman Rajan Bharti Mittal, chief executive officer of Novartis Vasant Narasimhan and Deloitte Global CEO Punit Renjen and HCL’s managing director Vijay Guntur, among others.
