Hyderabad: IT and Industries Minister K T Rama Rao on Wednesday slammed the Union government for neglecting the southern states.
He said that the Union government has to rise above petty political considerations while choosing states for setting up defence and aerospace units in the country. He wants the government to consider the existing ecosystem rather than elections as a deciding factor for setting up strategic defence production units in private or government sectors.
Mr Rama Rao was addressing the third edition of the Defence Conclave titled ‘Advantage Telangana: Examining Transformations and Exploring Opportunities’ organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here in the city.
While seeking the Centre’s nod for starting a Defence Production Corridor between Hyderabad and Bangalore, he said, “I have met four defence ministers in the last five years and requested them to support Hyderabad and Telangana in our growth story as we a have a good eco-system for the growth of defence and aerospace industry, industry ready workforce and a strategic location.”
He pointed out that “unfortunately, it occurs to me that even in matters of strategic sectors like aerospace and defence, sometimes the regional compulsions are outweighing national strategies”.
While recalling that one of the investors told him that they were asked by the government to consider Nagpur, Gujarat or Rajasthan, he felt that “it is a travesty that investments coming to India in important sectors like defence have to be based on political and geopolitical considerations”.
He opined that “the Centre should have a relook at the strategy as it is spending millions of dollars on defence acquisitions”. He expressed the hope that sense and wisdom will prevail and the centre starts taking sectors like defence seriously.
