Special Chief Secretary to government of Telangana K. Pradeep Chandra on Friday said the leadership in the new State was working towards being the ‘most business-friendly administration’ among all States.
“Telangana government is willing to partner with businesses and our strength is in facilitating proposals, going beyond the stereotype of a single window. We have 2.5 to 3 lakh acres of land fit for industrial activity across the State,” he pointed out, during a presentation at the ongoing Defence and Aerosupply India 2014 here.
In his keynote address, Secretary, Department of Defence Research & Development, Avinash Chander said the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was looking to locate ‘military industrial complexes’ (MICs) at several places across the length and breadth of the country to serve as a reliable logistics and supply chain mechanism for its own design, research & development and production needs. There was enormous potential in defence R&D that the private industry could leverage. This was possible only if they looked at things with an R&D focus and developed new technologies, instead of merely waiting for an order and start making things and systems, he pointed out. However, he said many small units suffered financially and hence the need for a dedicated Cash Support Fund to be created by the government.
Skill training Managing Director, Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation, moderated the panel discussion on ‘Changes, Implications & Opportunities’ in the defence and aerospace sectors.
Director, IIT-Hyderabad, U.B. Desai explained how the youth needed to be hand-held, from education to employment and said there were three drivers – educators, employers and young people. Citing statistics from a McKenzie report, he said there were a whopping 75 million unemployed youth across nine countries including India, Brazil, Mexico, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, UK and USA, indicating the need for specialised skill training.
On expectations of the private industry, CEO, GMR Hyderabad International Airport, S.G.K. Kishore said the moment was right for focus on defence and aerospace sectors and that the public-private participation mode was the most ideal to achieve progress. On Civil Aviation, he said India was the 9th largest market and it was expected to transport 450 million passengers by 2020, thus becoming the world’s 3rd largest.
