Hyderabad : Think like KCR, dream-like KCR. The secret behind the successful political journey of K. Chandrashekhar Rao(KCR), Chief Minister of Telangana continued to dream big which is why he is where he is today. He too had his share of setbacks. He defied the suggestion of his maternal uncle, went ahead and pursued what he dreamt of, the political career. He lost the election for the chairman of the single window elections of Raghavapur. He then joined the newly launched TDP in the year 1983. He managed to get a TDP ticket to contest as MLA on his own but lost with a small majority. But KCR continued to pursue his dream despite his setbacks. He started his party, TRS in the year 2001 without any background, media backing and cinema glamour. He fought 14 long years with determination and got a separate state and became Chief Minister. It was all possible because he believed in himself, determination, perseverance and of course with public support, KT Rama Rao told the youth in the audience and advised them to continue to dream and dream-like KCR.

K.T. Rama Rao was addressing a massive gathering of students and entrepreneurs in the audience immediately after the Bhoomi Puja of Gateway IT Park Kandlakoya. After the groundbreaking ceremony, KTR also unveiled a plaque to mark the occasion. KT Rama Rao also unveiled the logo of KITEA–Kompally IT Entrepreneurs Association.

As part of our strategy of growth in dispersion (GRID) across the state, a new IT park at Kandlakoya junction on ORR has been conceptualized as a gateway to Hyderabad. I am happy to lay the foundation today on the birthday of a Living Legend Telangana CM Sri KCR Garu, he announced.

The Park which has only 5 lakh sqft capacity, got the demand for 6, 04, 200 sft space which is already booked and it is houseful now. The Cyber Towers at Madhapur which was inaugurated in 1998 has 5.25 lakh sqft, but Gateway IT Park Kandlakoya has 6 lakh sqft. That means, it is bigger than Cyber Towers, KT Rama Rao told the packed audience. Speaking why they chose to inaugurate it on the birthday of Chief Minister KCR, explained at length the journey of CM KCR, his struggle and achievement, he said and explained the journey as above. He then reminded the audience of a well-known quotation in boxing “It’s not about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward”, that matters he said in real life too And that is what KCR has done.

The IT in the city is mostly focused in the West part of the city. We want it to grow in every other part of the city. Kandlakoya Village is the most suitable place to open a new IT park. The reasons, KT Rama Rao explained are, the area has 35 Engineering Colleges, 50 Traditional Colleges, 30 MBA Colleges that produce 15000 Engineering and 20,000 regular graduates. It will help more to get new jobs. It is only the beginning and so much is in the offing, he said.

The leaders from the area have been requesting my department to explore the North part of the city i.e Medchal District. They told me that the social infrastructure is already in place. There are Universities such as Malla Reddy and Mahindra located in this area. MMTS Railway station is close by. There is a good urban landscape, good connectivity. It is attached to the national highway, ORR. The place has everything one looks into when we set up an IT park.  That is why this place is chosen, he added

When we came into power 8 years back people had a lot of apprehensions that they would forget the new IT companies coming to the state, but, the existing companies may go away. Instead, the city was successful in attracting the world’s top and most valued companies such as Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft. It also attracted Uber, SalesForce and others.  Amazon has its world’s biggest campus here in Hyderabad, KTR told the audience.

Telangana is the 11th largest state in terms of Geography in India and 12th in population. But it is in 4th place after West Bengal, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu in contributing to the nation’s economy. We are just 2.5% of India’s population, but we contribute 5% to the nation’s GDP. Telangana is progressing well, It has set up many benchmarks, he told.

I met with Sri Arun Mammen, VC & MD of MRF India, before coming to this meeting.

He has shared with me that they’ve decided to invest ₹1,000 Cr into expanding their facility & creating a new speciality assembly line at Sangareddy district. He also offered CSR of ₹4Cr to the “Mana Ooru – Mana Badi” program, KTR revealed.

Telangana is the Vaccines Capital of the world. One-third of the human vaccines produced in the world are produced in Hyderabad, he reminded the students. And said, if you want to get good jobs and remain job-ready, you must skill or upskill or re-skill constantly, he advised them.

KT Rama Rao assured that T-Hub wing may also be set up at Kompally IT park to help the companies here.

He later cut the Birthday Cake of KCR, his father and CM on the occasion of his 68th Birthday.

He then handed over space allocation letters to 90 companies. All put together with a booked space of  6, 04, 200 sft. Some of those companies include A and AM Consultants Pvt. Ltd; A3 IT Solutions, Tutors Pride Edutech, Adsum Softek Originators, InfraBIM and others. These companies have booked in the range of 1000 ft to 20,000 sft. Their areas of specialisations include 45 software development companies; 15 IT services and consulting companies; 4 Data Analytics; 4 HR Services; 3 Gaming and Animation; 3 IOT and 16 Emerging Technologies and Innovations. The companies from all over Hyderabad and USA are shifting to Kandlakoya IT Park.

Oruganti Venkat, President of KITEA said the park has seen the light after 12 months of hard work. I one day tweeted KTR at midnight. He then instructed his department to validate our proposal.

After multiple meetings and exploring multiple locations such as Suchitra, Dundigal, Shamirpet, we have finalized this place. The reason for choosing Kandlakoya is the availability of a talent pool here.

I used to travel 50 km back and forth to work at Infosys, Oracle and other companies where I worked. A lot of my time used to go commuting. By the time I returned home I used to be tired.

I couldn’t spend quality time with the family. That is when this idea struck to create a sustainable ecosystem. We will help companies connect with colleges, villages. We will complete the infrastructure at the earliest possible time, he said.

Minister Malla Reddy while speaking shared that nearly one lakh engineering students pursue their studies in the district. He shared his successful journey and how he became the biggest educationist and one of the tops in the country,

Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, IT; several MLAs and MLCs and local politicians graced the occasion.