BRS desperate to damage Hyderabad’s image: Sridhar Babu

Industries and IT Minister Sridhar Babu said the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader T Harish Rao’s statement that ‘Future City’ would be cancelled if Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) came to power, was intended to discourage investments and deprive the youth of employment opportunities.

Terming the thought process as “destructive politics”, he asked whether Mr. Harish Rao wanted to threaten the investors and damage the future of Telangana youngsters for voting the BRS out.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday (May 23), he said people defeated the BRS in the Assembly elections, reduced them to zero seats in the Parliament elections and rejected them again in local body and municipal polls. “Yet, they continue to indulge in cheap and blackmail politics,” he said.

Mr. Sridhar Babu alleged that BRS leaders were yet to recover from their electoral defeat and were making irresponsible statements about scrapping the proposed “Bharat Future City” with an intention to damage Hyderabad’s international image out of jealousy.

The Minister said that while the Opposition parties have every right to offer constructive criticism, they should not indulge in attempts to derail development projects for political gains. “Politics is temporary, but the interests of the State are permanent,” he remarked.

The Minister reminded that the BRS had earlier attempted to obstruct the Musi River rejuvenation project and was now conspiring against the Future City initiative.

Describing Bharat Future City as a landmark initiative, Mr. Sridhar Babu said the project was not confined to a region or a government, but aimed at strengthening Telangana’s global brand image and economic future. “In the coming years, Bharat Future City will become an engine of growth for Telangana’s economy,” he said.

“Suppose an international company plans to invest hundreds of crores in Telangana. If Opposition leaders publicly say they will cancel the project after coming to power, won’t those companies move to neighbouring States?” he asked.

Drawing comparisons with earlier infrastructure projects, Mr. Sridhar Babu recalled that projects such as the Shamshabad International Airport and the Outer Ring Road, initiated during the tenure of former Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, were once criticised by the Opposition parties but later proved instrumental in Hyderabad’s development.

He also pointed out that the Software Technology Park initiative launched by the Congress government in 1992 and the development of HITEC City initiated during the tenure of N. Chandrababu Naidu were continued and expanded by successive governments rather than scrapped.

“Just as HITEC City transformed Hyderabad into a global IT hub, Bharat Future City is envisioned as a futuristic project for the next generation in the era of Artificial Intelligence,” he stated.

The Minister said Telangana could not afford to lag behind cities like Bengaluru and Chennai in attracting investments and technology-driven industries.

Sridhar Babu also clarified that the government had not cancelled the Pharma City project and had already informed the High Court accordingly. He said a Life Sciences Park would be developed on the lands acquired for Pharma City.