After the political struggle to get statehood, Telangana is now gearing up to launch the second round of battle. And this time on the economic front.
Telangana industrialists are now joining hands with political parties and the Telangana Joint Action Committee, which spearheaded the T-movement.
“We are drawing up a new action plan. We have asked industrialists and trade bodies to come out with a vision document for Telangana,” Kodandaram, president of T-JAC, told
Nrupender Rao, Chairman of the Pennar Group and one of the few Telangana industrialists, sums up this fear: “I am from Telangana. But now we (Pennar) are considering shifting our proposed new unit from Gujarat to (residual) Andhra, because of the tax benefits and incentives that will come with the special status. Nobody will think of setting up units in Telangana if it does not get the same status,” he says.
G Vivek, MP and chairman of the Visakha Group of Industries, admitted that so far “politics took precedence over economy.” If Telangana did not get similar benefits as the other State, there will be “de-industrialisation” here, he said, adding “We will have to continue our fight.”
J Geeta Reddy, former AP Minister for Major Industries, said the new battle should aim at changing the “New Delhi mindset” that as Telangana got statehood, its problems were all over.