ITC plans to invest Rs8,000 crore in Telengana

Diversified consumer product group ITC Ltd has proposed to invest Rs8,000 crore in greenfield and brownfield projects in Telangana, chairman YC Deveshwar said on Friday.

ITC has proposed investments, including in expansion of its paper plant capacity, setting up of a world-class food processing facility at Medak for over Rs800 crore and a hotel with an investment of Rs1,000 crore in Hyderabad.

Deveshwar said the proposed hotel would be eco-friendly and LEED-certified for green initiatives while the new world-class food processing centre at Medak would facilitate processing activities, reduce wastage and bring down food inflation.

Speaking at a conference organised by the state government to announce its new industrial policy, ITC chairman YC Deveshwar said the company also proposed to double the capacity of ITC Paper Boards' facility at Bhadrachalam in Khammam district to 1 million tonnes.

With two of the group's major divisions in the state, which include the paperboard and agribusiness division of its total 13 businesses, ITC is committed to Telangana, Deveshwar said during the launch of Telangana government's new industrial policy.

He said the new policy framework is expected to provide a hasle-free business regulatory environment and the vision for industrialisation for Telangana - ''research to innovation, innovation to industry and industry to prosperity'' - is a move in the right direction.

Menawhile, Kolkata-based Ruia group, which has interests ranging from rubber to heavy engineering and infrastructure, has evinced interest in investing Rs500 crore in the state.

Appreciating the Telangana government's efforts to attract investment and the state's new industrial policy that promises right to clearances, Ruia group chairman Pawan Kumar Ruia said his group will invest around Rs500 crore in a rail coach facility.

Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao promised to live up to the investors' expectations in terms of hassle- and graft-free clearances. The conference was attended by over 1,000 industrialists, bureaucrats, lawmakers and diplomats.