Hyderabad: The Union Budget has come as a huge disappointment for Telangana, having ignored all the representations that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and ministers submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union ministers seeking funds and projects in the state.
An additional source of ire was the Centre felicitating funds for AP citing provisions of AP Reorganisation Act, but giving nothing to Telangana state, which was also formed as per the same legislation.
Since assuming office on December 7, 2023, Revanth Reddy and his ministers made 18 visits to Delhi with the Chief Minister himself meeting Modi twice. They kept reiterating the need to fulfill promises made during the state reorganisation, including setting up a steel plant in Bayyaram and a coach factory in Kazipet.
Reddy sought the revival of ITIR in Hyderabad to encourage the growth of IT companies and developers. The project that was approved in 2010 has been stalled since 2014. He sought the allocation of 2,450 acres of defence land for infrastructure projects, including elevated corridors on the Hyderabad-Karimnagar and Hyderabad-Nagpur highways (NH-44). He offered alternative land in Raviryal in exchange.
Given the interest of several companies in setting up semiconductor factories in Hyderabad, Revanth Reddy sought the inclusion of Telangana in the India Semiconductor Mission.
He urged for sanction of an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Hyderabad, citing available land in the University of Hyderabad (UoH) campus. A request was made for the release of pending Rs 1,800 crore under the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) for the years 2019-24.
Revanth Reddy sought the upgrading of 13 state highways into national highways to cater to the increased transportation needs and improve connectivity to major towns and pilgrimage sites. The Chief Minister’s pleas on Hyderabad RRR, its southern extension and developing national highways around Hyderabad have all fallen flat. But none of these requests figure in the Union Budget.
