Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday said his government would maintain cordial relations with neighbouring states as well as the Centre for faster development of the state.
Addressing the gathering at Independence Day celebrations after unfurling the tri-colour at historic Golconda Fort in Hyderabad, Rao said measures taken in this direction have shown results.
“From the day I assumed charge as Chief Minister, I made it clear that Telangana will maintain friendly relations with all its neighbouring states. Towards that spirit, the government’s efforts have yielded good results,” he said, adding “On irrigation and Energy sector, we have been able to have tie ups with Maharashtra, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh.”
Power purchase agreement for 1,000 MW has been finalised with Chhattisgarh and the power will become available to Telangana in next four months, he said.
Rao said that because of the policies followed by the previous governments (during united Andhra Pradesh), the irrigation projects on Godavari river are mired in disputes with neighbouring states and did not make headway.
He pointed out that “Now, with our sustained efforts we have been able to take strides towards signing agreements on irrigation projects with Maharashtra. It is an important step in the interest of the state.”
On the other hand, Telangana has also strengthened relations with Karnataka and as a result Karnataka has come forward to complete work of RDS Project which will ensure water to Mahabubnagar district.
“Ours is a newly formed state and in order to ensure speedy development, the Government would maintain cordial relationship with the Centre as well as the neighbouring states. We will protect the interests of the state without compromising on policies,” Rao said.
Rao announced that the process of creation of new districts is on and they will come into being from Dasara festival as gift to the public.
The government is taking steps to provide irrigation water to one crore acres across the state, he said. The government, Rao said has given special focus on agriculture sector which according to him, had been neglected during united Andhra Pradesh.
Priority has been given on micro irrigation by the government and drip irrigation has been provided on highly subsidised rates, he said, adding that his government has allotted Rs 300 crore besides Rs 1,000 crore from Nabard to bring 1.26 lakh acres under drip irrigation during this year.
Speaking on the warehousing capacities in the state, Rao said his government has undertaken steps to construct 330 godowns with combined capacity of 17.07 lakh tonnes and out of this construction of 100 godowns is ready while the remaining would be completed in next two months.
He said the government, under the new industrial policy-(TS-IPASS) accorded sanctions for setting up 2,303 industries in the state involving an investment outlay of Rs 46,000 crore. It is estimated that these industries would provide employment opportunities to 1.75 lakh people.
PTI