HYDERABAD: Telangana struck it rich on day one of the World Economic Forum Summit at Davos, Switzerland, with IT and industries minister K.T. Rama Rao luring investments worth Rs 600 crore, and commitments for setting up offices of Swiss Re, a Switzerland based insurance company, and Meesho, an e-commerce company.
Rama Rao, during the day, held a series of meetings with various industry leaders at the Telangana pavilion at the World Economic Forum (WEF). The largest investment commitment came from the Lulu Group which said it would invest Rs 500 crore in Telangana in the food processing sector. The announcement came at a meeting Rama Rao had with Lulu Group head Yusuf Ali.
Rama Rao, on behalf of the Telangana government, handed over the necessary permission documents to Yusuf Ali for the food processing unit to be set up by the company. Yusuf Ali said besides this investment, they also had plans of setting up another unit in the food processing sector and an official announcement would be made soon.
He said they would be laying the foundation stone for their food processing units soon. The company’s unit would export food products from Telangana to Europe and other parts of the world.
Yusuf Ali also said the Lulu group would invest more in the construction of large-scale commercial complexes in the state of Telangana. “We have already selected several areas in Hyderabad city in this regard and are in talks with the respective property owners. Our aim is to build an excellent shopping mall of international standards in Hyderabad city,” he added.
Rama Rao, expressing happiness over the Lulu Group’s decision to invest in Hyderabad, said the Telangana government was working towards increasing demand for agricultural products and agricultural allied products through food processing units.
At another meeting with Veronica Scotti, group managing director, and Ivo Menzinger, MD public sector solutions, of Swiss Re, Rama Rao welcomed the 160-yar old insurance and banking company to Telangana. Swiss Re said it would start an office in Hyderabad with an initial staff of 250 and the city office would focus on data and digital capabilities, product modelling and risk management.
Also announcing its intention to set up its facility in Hyderabad was Meesho, an e-commerce company which said it would work with the state government to onboard retail sellers in Tier-II towns in the state.
Meanwhile, Chemo, the Spanish multinational said it would invest about Rs 100 crore to expand their site in Hyderabad over the next two years. The investments will go towards setting up a second line of production in Hyderabad to manufacture pharmaceutical finished dosage forms. Chemo, which in 2021, set up quality control and stability labs in their facility in the city, was gearing towards commencing commercial operations utilising the upcoming production line, the company said.
Rama Rao, who also took part in a panel discussion on ‘Telangana Life Sciences – Industry’s Vision for 2030’ at the World Economic Forum, said the life sciences sector in India needed revolutionary reforms to strengthen the sector and compete with the world. He said India needed a conducive regulatory framework in the life sciences sector, and highlighted that Telangana was known as the ‘Vaccine Capital of the World’ and ‘Life Sciences Capital’ of the country. He added that Hyderabad Pharma City spread across 19,000 acres would be the world’s largest pharma cluster. The others who took part in the discussion were Dr. Reddy’s Labs co-chairman and managing director G.V. Prasad, and PwC India partner Mohammad Athar.
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