Warangal to be the next major hub in Telangana

Hyderabad: Warangal with its proximity to Hyderabad and with over 300 educational institutions, which produce skilled and semi-skilled labour, give it a unique advantage over the other tier-II and tier-III cities and has the potential to be the next major hub for economic activity in Telangana after Hyderabad.

The Gross District Domestic Product (GDDP) for Warangal Urban is Rs 10,012 crores and for Warangal Rural is Rs 7,963 crores in 2015-16. As per District Industries Centre data for both the Districts of Warangal, the total number of industrial units are 781, with 719 in Warangal Rural and 62 in Warangal Urban. The units are predominantly agro and food based. Minerals based industries are also operating.

CII Telangana chairman V Rajanna said, “Warangal Urban can become a potential hub for services sector including IT, ITeS, Tourism and Hospitality sectors while Warngal Rural is suitable for textiles and food processing. There is a need to enhance economic activity in these locations.”

He told Telangana Today, “Warangal has a great talent hub because of the academic institutions. The city can attract food processing and textiles units. Once infrastructure is created, there could be more investments from the industry. As Hyderabad created manufacturing base, Warangal can also replicate the manufacturing ecosystem where ancillary units can come up. Hardware facilities can come up here.”

He informed, “CII recently held sessions in Warangal to empower rural entrepreneurship where 300 women partcipated. We have signed a MoU with NIT Warangal to train faculty in emerging technologies. We are collaborating with TASK regional centre by giving inputs on what industry wants.”

The Government’s recent announcement of the Kakatiya Mega Textile Park is a significant move. The proposed ‘cotton-to-garment’ park will be set up in an area of 2,000 – 3,000 acres, with a vision to have a “fibre to fabric (end-to-end)” facility. Expected to garner investment of Rs 3,900 crores, employment creation potential is estimated at 75,000 jobs with over 25,000 direct jobs.

Hyderabad-Warangal corridor will be busier due to the focused development of Yadadri. Warangal also has a rich cultural heritage and a great tourist destination because of 1000 pillar Shiva temple, Ramappa caves, Badrakali temple, etc.

Rajanna recommened to Government of Telangana that Warangal should have a mid-size airport and also high speed rail connectivity between Hyderabad and Warangal to make it like Shanghai and Hangzhou of China.