Hyderabad:

Telangana is the first state in independent India to have launched a project called ‘Mission Bhagiratha’ to provide a drinking water connection to every home, BRS Working President K T Rama Rao said on Thursday.

In a message posted on social media platform X, Rama Rao, referring to a news story, said that inspired by Telangana’s project, the NDA government at the Centre had launched its ‘Har Ghar Jal’ programme a few years later.

“Telangana is the first state in independent India to have launched a project called ‘Mission Bhagiratha’ to provide a potable water connection to every home, thanks to our Hon’ble CM KCR’s visionary leadership,” he said.

“Inspired by Telangana’s success, Govt of India has launched ‘Har Ghar Jal’ a few years later. What Telangana does today, rest of India follows tomorrow,” Rama Rao added.

Telangana is The first state in independent India to have launched a project called “Mission Bhagiratha” to provide a potable water connection to every home

Thanks to our Hon’ble CM KCR’s visionary leadership

Inspired by Telangana’s success, Govt of India has launched Har… https://t.co/yeZQonlmA2

— KTR (@KTRBRS) October 12, 2023

Under Mission Bhagiratha, it was conceived to provide 100 litres per capita per day (LPCD) treated and piped water to every household in rural areas, 135 LPCD in municipalities and 150 LPCD in municipal corporations, according to a state government website. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hyderabad:

Ruling BRS Working President K T Rama Rao on Sunday said the party is a family of four crore people in Telangana and that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is the head of the family.

Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comments at a public meeting at Mahabubnagar in Telangana that “two family-run parties have stalled the progress of Telangana,” Rama Rao said CM KCR took the place of a son who provided social security pensions to the senior citizens and stood as a brother to the farmers by giving ‘Rythu Bandhu’ investment support scheme and ‘Rythu Beema’ life insurance scheme for ryots.

“KCR is a member of every family in Telangana,” Rama Rao, son of Chandrasekhar Rao, said.

The BRS leader alleged that PM Modi “cheated the people of Ramagundam” by auctioning Singerani coal mines in an attempt to privatise the state-run mining company.

“The strategy of the PM was to push state-run companies into losses and later privatise them for the benefit of his corporate friends,” he said.

Attacking the Congress over its six ‘guarantees’ made to Telangana people ahead of the assembly polls, Rama Rao claimed that three things are guaranteed if Congress comes to power. They are a three-hour power supply instead of a 24×7 power supply given by the BRS government, a change of chief minister every year and a lot of scams, he claimed.

Rama Rao made these comments while addressing gatherings after participating in various development programmes at Chennur, Ramagundem and Peddapalli assembly constituencies today.

Sounding the BJP’s poll bugle for the upcoming assembly elections in Telangana, PM Modi today asserted that “Telangana wants a change” and wants the BJP to come to power — making a veiled attack on the alleged corruption perpetrated by the BRS government.

Addressing a public meeting organised by the BJP at Mahabubnagar, he said Telangana wants a change as people would like to see a “transparent and honest government and not a corrupt one”.

He further said BRS is in power in the state but the “steering” of the car (BRS election symbol) is in the hands of someone else. “You also know who is running the Telangana government. Two family-run parties have stalled the progress of Telangana. The identity of the two family-run parties is with corruption and commission,” he said.

The “formula” of these two parties is “of the family, for the family and by the family”, he alleged.

“These people are making democracy as ‘parivar-tantra’ (family system). They run a political party as a private limited company. The president, CEO, director, general manager, manager, all belong to the family. Outsiders are hired as support staff just for the sake of it,” he claimed.

The family-run parties are only concerned about their own good, but BJP is focused on providing a better quality of life to the common people, PM Modi said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

U.A.E-based Lulu Group opened its first shopping mall in the presence of Telangana Municipal Administration Minister K.T. Rama Rao and LuLu Group International chairman & MD M.A. Yusuff Ali, in Hyderabad on September 27, 2023.
| Photo Credit: G. Ramakrishna

U.A.E.-based retailer Lulu Group on September 27 opened its first shopping mall in Hyderabad and reiterated the ₹3,500 crore investment committent it had made to Telangana for a clutch of projects ranging from a 2 million square feet destination mall to a food processing facility.

“Today we are inaugurating our first shopping mall in Hyderabad. This is our first venture in the State. Our second project will be an export-oriented state of the art food processing facility, including meat processing, in Hyderabad,” chairman M.A. Yusuff Ali said at the opening of the mall in Kukatpally in Hyderabad by Telangana’s Industries and IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao.

Towards supporting the local fishing community, the Lulu Group is also also planning to establish a seafood procurement and processing centre in Siricilla, the constituency of the Minister. “Apart from this, we have also committed ₹3,500 crore over next three years in a destination shopping mall, mini malls and agricultural produce sourcing, logistics and processing hub for facilitating 100% exports as well as promotion of Telangana products across India and overseas,” he said, thanking the Minister and government for their support.

Addressing the gathering, Mr. Rao said he was hopeful of the Lulu Group’s investment exceeding the ₹3,500 crore committent it had made on malls, super markets, food processing and allied sectors, including aquaculture and fish processing. The projects will benefit the youth in Telangana by way of jobs as well as farmers and those into fishing and poultry in the State in terms of augmenting their income.

“We will show the Lulu Group team more opportunities and ensure they have the best of experience in India. I can promise you Yusuff bhai that you can use Telangana as a stepping stone for many good things for India and rest of the world as well,” the Minister said.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Mr. Rao said opening of the mall is a “fantastic addition to Hyderabad’s retail scene! Telangana’s first-ever Lulu Mall by the UAE-based retailer Lulu Group is ready to welcome customers in Hyderabad. Inaugurated Lulu Mall covering 5 lakh sq. ft in Hyderabad. Congratulations to LuLu Group…

Telangana is keen on bringing more area under oilseed crops as that would help avoid the problem of plenty the State faced with a massive paddy output as well as lay ground for investments in edible oil refining and food processing sector, Industries and IT Minister K.T.Rama Rao said.

“We are asking farmers to move away from paddy… production was so much that government of India said it cannot procure any more. Over the next five years, 20 lakh acres under paddy in Telangana will systematically be moved away to oil palms,” the Minister told the Indian Vegetable Oil Producers Association (IVPA) Global Roundtable 2022 here on Friday.

Paddy production in Telangana had increased from 6.8 million tonne in 2014 to 25.9 MT this year, he said, pointing to how new irrigation projects of the State government brought an additional 40 lakh acres under cultivation.

A shift, away from paddy, to oil palm, soya bean, groundnut and sunflower will also enhance raw material availability, for edible oil production, without deforestation, something that a few countries are accused of, he said, inviting the industry and company leaders to consider investing in Telangana. More oilseed production would translate into lesser foreign exchange outgo for a country like India that imported 60% of its edible oil requirements, he added.

Highlighting Telangana government’s policy initiatives to improve the ease of doing business levels, especially the TS-iPASS system of time bound clearances for new projects, Mr.Rao said the State has initiated the setting of Special Food Processing Zones on 10,000 acres, which is also bound to be of interest to the investors.

Agriculture Minister S.Niranjan Reddy said after the Centre permitted oil palm cultivation in 25 of the 33 districts, the State has approved 11 companies to set up 25 oil crushing and refining units. While the target is to bring 1.75 lakh acres under oilseed this year, plantation on 40,000 acres could be finished as excessive rainfall came in the way. He was hopeful of more area being brought under the plantation on the back of the State’s pro farmer policies.

IVPA president Sudhakar Desai said the global food crisis triggered by the pandemic and the Ukraine-Russia war have thrown multiple challenges at the edible oil sector ranging from sourcing to managing demand and supply, production and other market dynamics. It has once again turned the spotlight on the need to become self-sufficient in edible oils. The two-day roundtable, on Veg Oil and Oilseed Sector, is aimed at evolving solutions to challenges, forging partnerships and developing a road map to make India self-sufficient in edible oils.