Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy told a select audience at the Indian High Commission in London that the state is in active communication with Tesla and BYD. In his first foreign tour since winning the elections and becoming the Chief Minister in December 2023, Reddy’s brief and quick reference to Tesla and BYD piqued the interest of all those who were present.
Interestingly, in July 2023, New Delhi had denied permission to BYD, a Chinese firm, to set up a manufacturing unit in Hyderabad. Tesla has been looking to enter India for over two years, and Telangana’s former Industry and Commerce minister KT Rama Rao had famously written to its CEO Elon Musk on social media inviting him to the state. On Thursday evening, clad in a white shirt and jeans, Reddy, unlike most politicians, chose to make a rather small speech, during which he hinted two of the world’s biggest electric vehicle manufacturers could come to Hyderabad.
The 54-year-old Reddy, who was previously in the Telugu Desam Party before joining Congress in 2017, did not elaborate on what stage or how imminent a deal with the two major EV manufacturers. It is well-known that Hyderabad is one of the most sought after destinations for foreign multinationals looking to set up a base in India. Accompanied by a small team of bureaucrats, Reddy, who came to the UK from Davos where he attended the World Economic Forum, proclaimed “Telangana means business.” The 54-year-old Reddy highlighted pharma, medical device, IT, aerospace, data science as some of the sectors where Telangana had made spectacular progress and continues to attract investments.
Reddy announced that the state will concentrate on developing medical tourism and will bring a new energy policy. “Hyderabad has the potential to emerge as a major destination for medical tourism especially for countries where there are long waiting periods for surgeries like the UK.” The large majority of medical tourists to India come from Southeast Asia, Africa, and Middle East, but cost advantage and quick treatment has the potential to further increase the numbers from Europe and America. Reddy also spelt out the vision to develop Telangana as a leading hub for Artificial Intelligence and healthcare.
One key reason for Reddy’s visit to London was to study and understand the maintenance of the Thames river in order to revive and rejuvenate Musi river in Hyderabad. “We want to make a new city around Musi river. As it runs around 55 km in Hyderabad this will be one of its kind project,” he said. Amrapali Kata, IAS, and managing director of the Musi River Development Corporation Limited (MRDCL) said, they had several meetings with officials from Port of London Authority to understand how the maintenance of river Thames evolved over the years.
Just hours before Reddy spoke at the Indian High Commission, he took part in a meeting in Westminster where Parliamentarians, business leaders and members of the diaspora were present. “I was the MP from one of the biggest Parliamentary constituencies in India. I resigned, but it was a happy story as I ultimately formed the government in Telangana.” Among those present were Lord Rami Ranger, MPs Paul Scully, Valerie Vaz, and Virendra Sharma, who was the host.
“Democracy is one feature which is common to both India and the UK. We have a duty to make democracy stronger. My party fought for India’s independence and Mahatma Gandhi showed the world that we can fight for freedom and democracy with love and non-violence.”
A local councillor, originally from Telangana, asked Reddy whether his government could do something about coming to the aid of Indian students (from Telangana) facing violence, or family members struggling to repatriate the bodies of their loved ones to India. Reddy assured the lady councillor that they will consider establishing a helpline or separate cell for the UK, just like they had for those from Telangana who were employed in Gulf countries.
“My government stands for welfare and development. I was in opposition for 20 years and I want to win trust every day, and not just during the election period.” He told the assembled MPs that his government will roll out several women centric policies — providing Scootys to girl students to facilitate travel, free travel on buses for women, and financial reimbursement schemes for girls.
And although he mentioned his visit to Davos where he bagged investments from Adani Group, Godrej Industries, JSW Energy, among others, he reminded the audience that he was the son of a farmer and got the opportunity to become the chief minister despite coming from a marginalised background. Over 70 per cent of our population depends on agriculture, farmers are very important. “Agriculture is the culture of India.”
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