Towards Bangaru Telangana Chief Minister meets many Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao, CPRO to CM

Towards Bangaru Telangana Chief Minister meets many

Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao, CPRO to CM

Telangana as the newest and 29^th state of India was formed on June 2, 2014. Telangana Rashtra Samithi by securing majority of seats in the state Assembly formed Government with Sri K. Chandrashekhar Rao as the First Chief Minister. The Government completes one year in office on June 2, 2015.

Ever since K Chandrashekhar Rao became the first chief minister of the Telangana state a year ago, investors from abroad as well as within the country are forming a bee line to have meetings with him. Most of these investments are coming forward, thanks to the dynamic and visionary leadership being provided by the Chief Minister. An interesting factor is that every investor, be it industrial houses representatives or trade and business representatives, are often floored by the in-depth knowledge that the chief minister has on every subject. The moment a presentation is made, Chief Minister can analyze the presentation much better than the presenter himself. Chief Minister in the process met number of individuals representing Industrial and Financial Institutions from India and abroad which paved way for all round development of state.

The investors from abroad as well as within the country and also persons occupying pivotal positions include among others…. Indian business tycoon Anil Ambani, Japanese Consulate General Masanori Nakano, Director NSL Consolidated Sian Freeman, NTPC Chairman and Managing Director Dr. Arup Roy Choudhury, CEO IKEA Juvenico Maeztu, Vice Admiral Satish Soni of Eastern Naval Command, Chairman Piramal group Ajay Piramal, Azeem Premji of WIPRO, Consul General Turkey Murat Omeroglu, Chairman TATA Group of Industries Cyrus Mistry, Chairman of the Adani group Goutham Adani, Chairman Hinduja Group of Companies (India) Ashok P Hinduja, Microsoft India Chief Bhaskar Pramanik, ITC Limited Executive Director Pradip Dhobale,  Father of green revolution in the country MS Swaminathan, Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan, Indian industrialist and philanthropist and chairman of the CK Birla Group CK Birla, Chairman and Managing Director REC Rajeev Sharma, General Manager Samsung Data Systems India Dongsun Choi, Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella, Chairman and Managing Director BHEL BP Rao, Governor Reserve Bank of India Dr. Raghuram Rajan, General Director Korean Environment Corporation GEE-SEOK JEON, CEO and Managing Director TATA Power Anil Sardana, Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad, President NASSCOM R. Chandrashekhar, Union Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu, chairman and CEO Fairfax Prem Watsa, Kerala Minister for Education P.K. Abdurub, Union commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Jindal steel power CEO and Co-Director Neeraj Kumar, US Ambassador to India Richard Verma, Chairman NABARD Harsh Kumar Bhanwala, Sweden based company Managing Director Raman Nagarajan, V. K. Saraswat Member NITI Ayog, MRF CMD KM Mammen, Chairman of Shapurji Pollonji Company Shapur P Mistry, Walmart CEO David Cheesewright and CEO and Managing Director, Hitachi Solutions India Ananthanarayanan.

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani, Indian business magnate, investor, and philanthropist and chairman of Reliance Group which came into existence in June 2005, called on the Chief Minister on July 7^th 2014 and complemented him for achieving formation of Telangana and for becoming its first Chief Minister. He told the CM that he would involve and participate in the development of Telangana. Ambani assured the CM that he would invest in power, industrialization, infrastructure development and media areas. 

Japanese Consulate General Masanori Nakano called on the Chief Minister in July 2014 first week and said his country has been assisting small and medium entrepreneurs in the state and in the near future he looks forward to invest in Telangana in trade and industry as well as help in the state’s power development. The delegation told the government about various reputed companies and also briefed him about technical help being extended by Japan for power generation at Nagarjunasagar and Srisailam projects besides JICA (Japan Industrial Co-operative Agency) initiatives in the State.

Sian Freeman, Director NSL Consolidated, a bulk Commodities Company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, called on the Chief Minister on 2^nd July 2014. He told CM that his company would set up an iron ore pellets plant with an initial investment of Rs 1,000 Crore in Telangana. The pellets plant will be using very low grade iron ore available in Medak and Karimnagar districts. NSL Consolidated is into iron ore production in India and thermal coal exploration in Australia. In the first phase the company would start its unit in Karimnagar district and in the second phase at Siddipet.

During 2^nd week of July 2014, NTPC Chairman and Managing Director Dr. Arup Roy Choudhury along with Director Operations A. K. Jha, Director Technical R. Venkateswran and South Regional Executive Director called on the Chief Minister. The CMD expressed his willingness and preparedness to set up 4000 MW Power Generation Plant at Ramagundam adjacent to their existing unit. He said that the work will commence immediately and first unit will be completed within 39 months. When they met second time in last week of May 2015, they agreed to put up entire 4000 MW fully dedicated to Telangana as per Reorganization Act at Ramagundam in their existing land.  The Chief Minister assured that required water allocation will be ensured and informed the CMD that he himself will take up the issue of coal linkage with Prime Minister.

A team from IKEA, the iconic Swedish furniture retailer, represented by its CEO Juvenico Maeztu and CFO Preet Dhupar, met the Chief Minister first time in 2^nd week of July 2014 to inform him that they would like to locate their first Indian store in Hyderabad. IKEA is one of the World's largest and recognizable international furniture, household goods and textiles Retail Company headquartered in Sweden. During discussions with IKEA, women entrepreneur groups, bamboo and wood artisans, carpet makers of Warangal as well as SERP women's groups have been identified as potential suppliers. Later in the last week of July IKEA signed an MOU with Government of Telangana in the presence of Chief Minister for establishing its store in the State. The decision by IKEA to set up its first store in Hyderabad will place Hyderabad on the international map of IKEA stores.

A delegation from USA led by Arun M. Kumar, Director General of the US and Foreign Commercial Service met the Chief Minister along with John M. McCaslin, Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs, Michael Mullins, Consul General and others in third week of July last year. The U.S. delegation mentioned that they are interested in aviation and defense areas.

Vice Admiral Satish Soni of Eastern Naval Command met the Chief Minister in July third week with a request to allot an extent of 2900 acres  of forest land in Dammagudem Reserve Forest of Hyderabad division for setting up VLF Station  Naval Base in Ranga Reddy District. The Chief Minister agreed to handover the land for which the Vice Admiral agreed to pay Rs.115.06crores towards Compensatory Afforestation.

In July last week, Chairman Piramal group Ajay Piramal called on the Chief Minister. He evinced keen interest in the proposed Industrial Policy and the government’s plans for establishing a pharma city. Recalling his meeting with CM Ajay Piramal addressed a latter later in which he mentioned that it was a real pleasure for him to know about the vision that the CM has set for the Telangana State. He also wrote that he was very much impressed with the openness and candor with which CM spoke of the challenges of Governance and how CM addressing them for laying a robust foundation for the nascent Telangana state.

Azeem Premji of WIPRO called on CM in July and promised to come to Hyderabad to establish Industries where 5000 persons could be provided employment.

Murat Omeroglu, Consul General Turkey called on the Chief Minister in the first week of August 2014 and extended an invitation to CM to visit Istanbul and they would make all arrangements for his visit as and when the Chief Minister plans.

Cyrus Mistry Chairman TATA Group of Industries called on the Chief Minister on 6^th August 2014 and complemented CM for taking initiative to formulate the best of the Industrial Policy for the state. Cyrus Mistry expressed his willingness to participate in the development of Telangana with their background and expertise of Technical Knowhow in several areas. He also expressed his desire to help the government in their efforts to provide free and compulsory education. Complementing CM for his commitment to improve slums and make Hyderabad a slum free City, Cyrus Mistry said that his group will help in this area also.

Goutham Adani, Chairman of the Adani group of companies called on the Chief Minister in the second week of August 2014 and told the CM that they will be able to produce 20000 MW of power by the year 2020 and would be in a position to supply to needy states. Chief Minister said that he will be happy if Adani group comes forward with its ideas to ease out the power problem.

Irial Finan Executive Vice President and T. Krishna Kumar Regional Head India of the Coca Cola Company along with their team called on the Chief Minister in the second week of August 2014. The team said that the company is interested to setup a large mega plant with Rs.1000 crores investment in the state and needs Government support. The team also assured that they will participate in the community development programme of the Government.

Ashok P Hinduja, Chairman Hinduja Group of Companies (India), Microsoft India Chief Bhaskar Pramanik and ITC Limited executive director Pradip Dhobale called on Chief Minister on 14^th August 2014. CM requested Hinduja Group Chairman to ensure share in supply of power from the company’s newly set up power project in Visakhapatnam. Bhaskar Pramanik told the CM that the Microsoft is planning to further expand its operations in Telangana. ITC executive director Pradip Dhobale told that his company is planning to set up a paper manufacturing plant at an investment of Rs 3,500 Crore in Telangana.

Renowned agriculture scientist and Father of green revolution in the country MS Swaminathan called on the Chief Minister on 14^th August 2014. During their meeting, CM requested Swaminathan to help the Telangana government to transform the new State into a “seed bowl” of the country. Swaminathan told the Chief Minister to carry out efforts to draw increasing number of youngsters and urban men and women into farming. Besides, he suggested developing the agriculture sector both economically and technologically.

L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Limited Chairman YM Deosthalee called on Chief Minister in the second week of August 2014 and requested him to facilitate more work fronts for Metro Rail construction so that the project can be completed as per schedule. Agreeing to the request, the Chief Minister first explained the advantage and strengths of Hyderabad City; the TRS Government’s proactive policies to encourage large scale industrial development; conversion of Hyderabad as a Global city; the new Industrial policy which is on the anvil and which will be one of the best in the world etc.

CK Birla, Indian industrialist and philanthropist and Chairman of the CK Birla Group, a conglomerate operating across home and building products, automotive and technology, and healthcare and education along with Company’s Managing Director Deepak Ketra called on the Chief Minister in the third week of August 2014. They expressed interest to invest in education and health sectors, besides expanding their cement industry in Telangana State. Briefing the Chief Minister on their investment proposals, they sought the help of Telangana government. Birla very keenly heard CM elucidating the government’s industrial policy. Birla was impressed by Telangana government’s new initiative to attract investments and industries to the state. He also told the Chief Minister that industry captains from all over the country had heard about Telangana government's unique vision and are showing interest in investing big time in this new state. 

The Chairman and Managing Director REC (Rural Electrical Corporation (REC) Limited, a Government of India Enterprise) Rajeev Sharma called on the Chief Minister in the first week of September 2014 and assured to fund to a tune of Rs.20 crores for the projects of Telangana GENCO, TRANSCO and distribution companies. To a suggestion from CM, CMD, REC also agreed to fund all the GENCO Projects. Later they met again and agreed to fund to a tune of Rs. 24,000 Crores to Telangana State GENCO power projects of 6280 MW installed capacity. They are 800 MW at KTPS, 1080 MW at Bhadradri in Manuguru of Khammam District and 4400 MW at Damaracherla in Nalgonda District totaling 6280 MW. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between REC represented by its Chairman and Managing Director Rajeev Sharma and TSGENCO represented by its Chairman and Managing Director D. Prabhakar Rao in the presence of Chief Minister on 20^th March 2015 coinciding Telugu New Year’s day Ugadi. REC is a Navaratna Enterprise and provides financial assistance for rural electrification as well as all types of power generation, transmission and distribution projects.

            In September first week Metro Police Secretary General Alian Lesaux and Manager Agnes Bickart called on the Chief Minister and briefed him on the proposed international Metro Cities Representatives conference.

A team of members led by Dongsun Choi, General Manager and Young IL Kim, Project Director of Samsung Data Systems, India, called on the Chief Minister in the fourth week of September 2014 and made a presentation on the Central Clearing Housing Systems (CCHS) with specific reference to Hyderabad city. Samsung is one of the world’s most admired companies and is widely recognized as an industry leader and an innovator. The team further appraised the Chief Minister about intelligent manufacturing, intelligent logistics, intelligent office, intelligent home, intelligent surveillance and smart education as part of smart city system.

Microsoft’s chief executive officer (CEO), Satya Nadella called on Chief Minister in the last week of September 2104.

Chairman and Managing Director BHEL BP Rao along with Director Power Atul Sobti and Executive Directors Gopalakrishnan and Sriram called on the Chief Minister in the fourth week of September 2014. On their request the 800 MW Unit at Kottagudem and 1080 MW Unit at Manuguru are given by CM to BHEL for construction on EPC basis.

The Chief Minister interacted with representatives of GMR Group in the fourth week of September 2014. GMR group said that it would build a high class exhibition cum convention centre as part of the proposed Airport City near Shamshabad Airport. The team proposed to build Hyderabad Airport city of world class which would create 15 to 20 thousand jobs.  GMR has also proposed to develop an exhibition cum convention centre in about 50 acres of land comprising of one Lakh square meters.

Representatives of Confederation of Indian Industry, Telangana Industrialists Welfare Federation and Federation of AP Chambers and Commerce and Industry called on the Chief Minister during the last week of September 2014. Chief Minister sought suggestions from them on the proposed New Industrial Policy and the Legislation. 

Dr. Raghuram Rajan, Governor Reserve Bank of India called on the Chief Minister on 15^th October 2014 and complimented Telangana Government saying that he is very much impressed by what the Government has done during the last few months. The Reserve Bank Governor said that any support required from bank to the state will be positively considered and everything that is possible would be done. The Governor said that they are trying to expand the scope of the RBI and want to start a Receivable Finances system through which they would consider supporting Micro and Small Enterprises.

 GEE-SEOK JEON, General Director of Environmental Energy Department, Korean Environment Corporation (KECO) called on the Chief Minister in the third week of October 2014. They told CM that they would like to participate in National Projects of Telangana State like construction of sewerage treatment plant, water grid connecting system and solar power plants. KECO is an affiliated agency under Korea’s Ministry of Environment.  KECO is a corporation which considers the improvement of people’s life through National Environmental Conservation and sustainable resource recirculation as its best value.

 A team of officers from TATA group led by Anil Sardana, CEO and Managing Director TATA Power called on the Chief Minister in the third week of October 2014. CM has requested the TATA Group of companies to invest about Rs. 30 to 40 thousand crores for an integrated development of Hyderabad and making it a world Class Smart City. The CEO TATA Power proposed to strengthen the power sector in Telangana. Besides developing Coal based power project, they offered their services to add solar power capacity as well as decentralized distributed generation solutions using solar power for rural areas, and also roof top solar, energy plantation on waste lands for bio mass power.

In the third week of October 2014 Kirloskar Brothers Limited Company Associate Vice-President Rajendra V Mahajan with his team called on the Chief Minister and put forward their proposals to provide Solar Pump sets.

Y. Madan Mohan, Chairman American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM), Hyderabad and Kiranmai Pendyala, Vice Chairman, AMCHAM called on the Chief Minister in the last week of October 2014. The American Chamber of Commerce in India is an association of American business organizations operating in India.

Mumbai based Genesis International Corporation Limited members who are experts in all kinds of mapping as well as surveys using GIS and Lidar Technology called on the Chief Minister in the second week of November 2014. They told the CM that they have solutions built on this data for urban governance and for all water related schemes. CM told them the state government would like to use the technology for conducting survey for all the tanks as part of Mission Kakatiya and Telangana Water Grid as well as Mapping of Hyderabad. 

John Farrow, Chairman, Dr. M Phani Raju, Managing Director and Dr T.S. Reddy, Senior consultant of LEA Associates South Asia, the consulting engineers and Planners called on the CM in the third week of November in connection with evolving an integrated approach of developing the existing roads and constructing 5-6 integrated sky ways with multiple layers of flyovers all over the Hyderabad city.

Government of China’s Sichuan province has extended an invitation to Chief Minister in the last week of November 2014 to visit Chengdu, Sichuan province, to strengthen friendly relations between Telangana state and Sichuan province, in view of promoting business and cultural cooperation between these two. In a letter to the Chief Minister’s Office Ms. Zhang Tao, Deputy Director General of Sichuan Foreign affairs Office mentioned that both Sichuan province and Telangana State are very similar in their history, culture and resources. Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan and the headquarters of Don Fang Electric Corporation, the World’s largest power equipment manufacturer.

Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology called on the Chief Minister in the second week of December 2014. He told CM that a separate postal circle has been approved and sanctioned for Telangana and a post of CPMG has also been created. The CM made a request to the Union Minister, that, the Central Government support of Rs. 165 Crores to the ITIR of Hyderabad is inadequate and needs to be increased for which the Union Minister responded positively and said that a formal request to be sent to his ministry from state Government.

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan on called on Chief Minister 28th December 2014. Amitabh congratulated CM on achieving a separate Telangana and on becoming the first Chief Minister. He also offered to help the TS government in its efforts to transform Hyderabad into an international city.

President NASSCOM R. Chandrashekhar and Vice Chairman NASSCOM BVR Mohan Reddy called on the Chief Minister in the third week of January 2015 with a request to host the   ‘World Congress on Information Technology’ (WCIT) at Hyderabad during February 2018 for which the CM agreed. The Chief Minister has been informed by the NASSCOM President, that, 2014 Conference was held in Mexico and the 2016 Conference will be held in Brazil.  It was proposed during the 2014 Conference that the 2018 Conference should be held in India.  Accordingly, the president has requested the Chief Minister to host the Congress in Hyderabad. The Chief Minister suggested to the NASSCOM president that the proposed World Congress on Information Technology’ (WCIT) to be held in 2018 should be done in a superb way and the whole world must be surprised and it should be on top class international standards. 

When Union Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu and South Central Railway General Manager P.K. Srivastava called on the Chief Minister in the third week of January 2015 the CM brought to their notice various pending railway projects and several other issues pending with the railways. The Union Minister has positively responded and assured the Chief Minister that he would have a meeting on the issues and pending projects in general and on Hyderabad city in particular. Within a day he waived payment of Traffic Block Charges by Metro Rail authorities at the rate of Rs. 10 Crores per crossing amounting to Rs. 80 Crores.

A delegation of Fairfax officials led by chairman and CEO Prem Watsa called on Chief Minister and discussed its plans for making Secunderabad Railway Station a world-class facility. The firm also evinced interest in investing in other sectors in the newly-created state. CM told the delegation that Telangana offers the best environment for investment and the government was giving top priority to road development, provision of drinking water and electricity generation. He also briefed the delegation of the plans for developing skyways and skyscrapers in Hyderabad. Prem Watsa in reply told CM that in addition to development of Secunderabad Railway station they would also take part in other development activities.

Minister for Education, Government of Kerala P.K. Abdurub called on the Chief Minister in the second week of February 2015 and informed that the Kerala Cabinet has approved allotment of 5 acres of Land at Sabarimala for construction of Telangana Bhavan as requested by the Chief Minister.

Union commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman called on Chief Minister on 14^th February 2015. The CM sought Centre’s help in setting up a dry port in Telangana state. He also sought Centre’s help in the development of Musi river area in Hyderabad. Sitharaman said that on the lines of purification of Ganga River, there was need to take up purification works on all polluted rivers. She assured Rao that she would take up Musi purification programme to the notice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. CM also showed handloom products of the state to the Union minister and sought the support of the Central government for promoting handloom products of Telangana state. The minister assured that the Centre would help in promoting handloom sector.

The Jindal steel power CEO and Co-Director Neeraj Kumar along with senior vice president Manish Kumar and associate vice president Rajeev Singh called on the Chief Minister during the third week of February 2014. They offered to supply required pipelines for the drinking water supply programme of the Telangana government. The delegation told the chief minister that if necessary they will set up a manufacturing plant in Telangana for this purpose. Jindal evinced interest in being partner in various development projects of the newly-created state.

US Ambassador to India Richard Verma called on the Chief Minister on 24^th February 2014. They discussed several issues of mutual interest. The two leaders reviewed the progress of construction of the new US Consulate building in Hyderabad. Responding to CM’s observations that many students from Telangana are studying in American Universities and many Telangana natives are employed in the US, Verma said that America and Telangana has good relations in several areas. He said that even the spare parts for American President's helicopter are made in Hyderabad. Richard Verma appreciated the development initiatives of the Telangana government.

Chairman NABARD Harsh Kumar Bhanwala, Deputy Managing Director R. Amalor Parvanathan and Hyderabad Head Jiji Mammem called on the Chief Minister in the third week of March 2015 and informed about NABARD funding and financing. They agreed to fund Telangana State in the areas of agriculture, agro related activities, green house cultivation, connectivity of rural bridges, social infrastructure like primary schools, drinking water and sanitation, renewable energy, cooperative banks, micro irrigation, farm mechanization, soil testing and mapping besides Mission Kakatiya and Drinking Water Supply Projects.  Chairman, NABARD, also told CM that once the state cooperative bank is bifurcated they would finance to a tune of Rs 800 to 900 Crores to the Telangana Cooperative Bank.  He said that, the bank has started a new fund with Rs. 15000 Crores for financing cooperative banks in the country.

Sweden based company Business and Green Technology Promotion proposed to establish power plants in Telangana from out of garbage and organic waste. The company's Managing Director Raman Nagarajan, consultant Diana Millers Dalsio and waste management expert Ms. Towe Ireblad called on Chief Minister in the third week of March 2015.

V. K. Saraswat Member NITI Ayog and Ashok Jain Advisor NITI Ayog called on the Chief Minister in the second week of April 2015. The Chief Minister told the Member that the FRBM guidelines for raising resources through borrowings for revenue surplus state should be at par with Government of India.  He said that this will enable the states to invest in capital infrastructure to improve the economic growth. This point has been made by the Chief Minister particularly in the light of reduction in the centrally sponsored scheme outlay for the states and lesser share in the devolution of funds to revenue surplus states. The NITI Ayog team told CM that any good scheme that the Telangana state is implementing will be recommended to other states instead of reinventing the wheel.

MRF CMD KM Mammen called on Chief Minister on 16^th April 2015 along with Senior General Manager Isaac Thamburaj in connection with the expansion plans of their factory. Mammen announced expansion plans of their factory at Sadashivpet and would be expanding its factory with an investment of Rs 980 Crores, providing additional employment to 905 people.  The existing Factory that has been functioning since 1990 has already employed 6500 workers with an investment of Rs.4300 Crore.

On 16^th April 2015 Chairman of Shapurji Pollonji Company, the largest construction major, Shapur P Mistry along with his team called on the Chief Minister and expressed their willingness to participate and invest in the development of Telangana. When CM explained them about his plans to develop Hyderabad Mistry enthused with the plans. He expressed his willingness to work with the government and invest about 20, 000 Crores.

America based world’s leading retailer Walmart CEO David Cheesewright along with the India head Krish Ayyar and Vice-President Rajneesh Kumar called on the Chief Minister on 22^nd April 2015, to convey their proposal to set up few more stores in Hyderabad. They brought to the notice of Chief Minister about the Walmart and how over a period it has grown not only in USA but also world over. They told CM that Walmart is a big business and they give lot of importance to India and Telangana State. With the assurance of Chief Minister to extend full support to Walmart which wants to expand, the Telangana State will have more market for its local products. 

CEO and Managing Director, Hitachi Solutions India Ananthanarayanan, Mike Gillis President and Global Chief Operating Officer, Hitachi Solutions America, Gary Peterson Executive Vice-President Hitachi and others called on the Chief Minister on 23^rd May 2015. The Hitachi team expressed its willingness to partner with Telangana Government in the areas of Smart City Solutions, Smart Card Solutions, Health care in partnership with Microsoft and in education. They also told the CM that they have already their presence in Telangana since 2013 and would like to start their second operations in Hyderabad from August 2015.

S.K. Roy, Chairman, Life Insurance Corporation of India called on Chief Minister on 27-05-2015.End