CM meets PM, seeks more funds for TG

New Delhi : Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to release necessary funds for the speedy development of the state. “Elections are over, and it is time now for governance. I appeal to the Centre to extend its helping hand to the state,” he said. Revanth Reddy on Thursday met the PM in Delhi and submitted a detailed memorandum, raising issues like removal of the Shravanapalli coal block from the auction list and allocation of the same along with Koyagudem and Sattupalli Block 3 to the Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL).

Revanth Reddy requested the PM to expedite the railway coach factory at Kazipet and sanction Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) for the development of self-contained integrated knowledge clusters for growth of IT and electronic hardware manufacturing in 50,000 acres in and around Hyderabad which did not move forward since 2014, sanction of IIM and release of dues of the Central grants. He was accompanied by Deputy CM Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka.

The memorandum also included the demand for allocation of 2,450 acres of defence land for infrastructural projects like elevated corridors on the Hyderabad-Karimnagar and Hyderabad-Nagpur Highways (NH-44). He said in lieu of the 2450 acres of defence land, the state government would give alternative land in Raviryal. He also reminded the PM about the pending issues like the Bayyaram Steel Plant as assured in the AP State Reorganisation Act 2014.

The CM further urged Modi to sanction 2.5 million houses for Telangana in the upcoming phase of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). The state is prepared to align its guidelines with those of the PMAY, he added.

Against the backdrop of interest evinced by several companies in setting up semiconductor units in Hyderabad, Revanth Reddy sought the inclusion of Telangana in the India Semiconductor Mission.

Other issues that formed part of the memorandum were release of Rs 1,800 crore under the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) for the years 2019-2024, upgradation of 13 state highways to National Highways and expediting the tenders for the northern part of the RRR.

Revanth Reddy later told the media that he had also called on the Union Home Minister Amit Shah and apprised him about the proposed meeting with AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and the issues they propose to discuss with him. He said Amit Shah had responded positively to the initiative to resolve the issues amicably by the two Telugu states.