The chief minister, accompanied by deputy CM Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, raised several key issues with the prime minister including allotment of defence lands, revival of ITIR and finalising location for IIM.
Telangana CM Revanth Reddy meeting PM Narendra Modi in Delhi along with Dy CM Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Thursday, 4 July, raised with Prime Minister Narendra Modi the sensitive issue of putting up coal blocks in Singareni area for auction.
The chief minister, in a representation to the prime minister, sought his intervention to remove the Sravanpally Coal Block from the list of coal blocks scheduled for auction and reserve it for Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL).
Ever since the Ministry of Coal put up the Sravanpally coal block in Singareni area for auction, the Opposition BRS took serious exception and alleged that the Congress and the BJP had joined hands to privatise the SCCL.
The BRS said that listing Sranvanpally coal block for auction was the first step in this direction. The party argued that there was no need for disinvestment in SCCL since it was performing very well and had a robust financial portfolio.
The chief minister informed the prime minister that the Telangana government holds a 51 percent stake in SCCL.
He pointed out that under section 11 A and 17 A (2) of the Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act, Sravanpally could be exempted from the coal blocks being auctioned and reserved for the SCCL.
Similarly, he said that the Kothagudem and Sattupally Block III also could be reserved for the SSCL. The chief minister argued that reserving the coal blocks in Singareni Area for the SCCL would be crucial for meeting the requirement of power in the state.
The Chief Minister, accompanied by deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, also raised issues such as the allotment of defence lands, revival of the Information Technology and Investment Region (ITIR) and several other issues that were listed in the Andhra Pradesh State Reorganisation Act,2014.
The chief minister pointed out how the ITIR, which was sanctioned for Hyderabad by the UPA-II in 2010, was scrapped to facilitate the inflow of investments into the IT sector.
The state government, accordingly, identified land in three clusters for the location of the ITIR but it remained a non-starter after 2014.
The chief minister also highlighted that the location of an IIM for the state was still pending with the Union government, despite a policy decision mandating that each state should have one IIM.
He suggested that there was enough land available at Hyderabad Central University for the location of an IIM. If the central government desired to locate it elsewhere, the state government would be willing to allocate the required land.
The chief minister also requested the inclusion of Telangana in the India Semi-Conductor Mission. He said several companies were showing interest in setting up semiconductor fabrication plants (FABS) in Hyderabad.
He also urged the prime minister to increase the number of houses allotted to Telangana under the first phase of the Prime Minister Aawas Yojana.
He wanted the prime minister to take steps for allotment of at least 25 lakh houses for the state from the total three crore houses. The state will be willing to change its guidelines as well, the chief minister said.
He sought release of ₹1,800 crore arrears owed to the state under Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF). Revanth Reddy said that grants amounting to ₹450 crore per year for the years 2019-20, 2021-22 to 2023-24, had not been released. He also recalled the allocation of ₹2,250 crore for five years from 2015 to 2019.
The chief minister also said that the state was willing to transfer 2,462 acres of land under lease at Raviryal, where it houses the Research Centre Imarat,to the Union government. This offer was in exchange for the transfer of 2,450 acres of land owned by the Defence Ministry.
He said that the state needed the lands for construction of elevated corridors on Hyderabad-Karimnagar and Hyderabad-Nagpur National Highway (NH-44) to reduce traffic congestion.
CM Revanth Reddy also wanted the Centre to speed up the construction of the phase I of the Regional Ring Road (RRR), which is part of Bharat Mala project. The state government was ready to bear 50 percent of the cost of land acquisition, he said, urging the prime minister to initiate the tender process for the project.
He wanted the road between Choutuppal to Sangareddy, which is located in the southern part of RRR, be designated as a national highway and promptly included in the Bharat Mala Project. He also wanted upgradation of 13 state highways into national highways.
The chief minister and deputy chief minister, in their representation to Home Minister Amit Shah, sought his intervention for setting up of camps by security forces in Adilabad, Mancherial, Komrambhim-Asifabad districts.
They pointed out that there were similar camps across the border in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra to combat the rise of the left-wing extremism.
He emphasised the need to reassess the security situation in Telangana, especially considering its long border with states grappling with extremists.
The chief minister said that there was a need to setup CRPF base camps in Kondavai in Charla mandal in Bhadradri-Kothagudem and Alubaka in Venkatapuram mandal in Mulugu districts.
He said the CPI (Maoist) has intensified its activity by constituting a separate squad on the hill slopes of Karre Guttalu across Telangana-Chhattisgarh border.
He said that the central government is in arrears of ₹18.31 crore, which represents its 60 percent share of the funds allocated for paying wages to Special Police Officers (SPOs).
The chief minister also presented before Amit Shah the demand to release of ₹88 crore for upgrading the Telangana Anti-Narcotic Bureau and ₹90 crore for Telangana Cyber Security Bureau.
He also urged Shah to increase the allotment of IPS posts to the state by an additional 29 positions. At the time of the creation of Telangana state, a sanction was made for 61 IPS posts, Revanth Reddy added.
(Edited by Shauqueen Mizaj)
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