Declaring the government's dream to eventually make Telangana a trillion-dollar economy, Sridhar noted that they weren't even a tenth of the way there.
Published Oct 15, 2024 | 7:00 AM ⚊ Updated Oct 15, 2024 | 7:00 AM
Telangana IT Minister D Sridhar Babu unveiled the plans for developing a Hyderabad-Bengaluru tech corridor
Unveiling plans for a Hyderabad-Bengaluru technology corridor, Telangana Information Technology (IT) Minister D Sridhar Babu deemed the friendly competition among South Indian states a key driver of growth.
Speaking at the third edition of South First‘s thought conclave Dakshin Dialogues in Hyderabad on Saturday, 5 October, he revealed an earlier conversation with Karnataka IT Minister Priyank Kharge.
He said that all five Southern states — Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana — are in friendly competition in the IT sector.
“All the Southern states are in a friendly competition to outdo each other in technology,” Sridhar noted. He added that the region continues to contribute to technology globally, excelling in curating the technologies of tomorrow.
“Priyank Kharge and I were having a healthy debate amongst ourselves on connecting Hyderabad and Bengaluru,” he explained. “We envisioned a tech corridor connecting the two cities to drive growth mutually,” he continued.
Adding that this corridor will emerge over the next few years, he reaffirmed his commitment to making Hyderabad the global Artificial Intelligence (AI) capital. “I joked with him (Priyank Kharge) that Bengaluru may be ahead of Hyderabad in IT exports, but we will take the lead in AI,” Sridhar informed.
There is already a Hyderabad-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (HBIC) between the two South Indian cities.
In 2024’s Union Budget, the centre decided to invest in the Orvakal node on HBIC in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool district. Apart from this, in September 2023, the then Telangana IT Minister KT Rama Rao also proposed a life sciences corridor between the two metros.
Declaring the government’s dream to eventually make Telangana a trillion-dollar economy, Sridhar noted that they weren’t even a tenth of the way there.
“Technology can help improve Telagana’s economy,” he stated.
Emphasising the need for self-reliance, he said: “It’s about time we stop selling our dough to other breadmakers. We should be able to make the dough, bake the bread, and sell it too. We have to capture the local brainpower to realise the AI dream.”
He stated that the Telangana government is collaborating with industry leaders like NVIDIA to materialise its goal of making Hyderabad the AI capital.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil)
