VK Singh stresses for greater cordination between Ministries in the Centre and the States

IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao on Sunday made a strong pitch for creation of a platform by the Centre where States get an opportunity to engage with various nations and tap various opportunities across the world actively.

Speaking at the Deccan Dialogue, a conference on economic diplomacy for development organised by the Ministry of External Affairs at the Indian School of Business here, Rao asked the MEA to take up mapping of resources within States. Once this is done, the resource maps could possibly be made available to various missions across the world, where the potential and strengths of various States can be explained, and prospective investors can initiate dialogue with respective States, he said, adding: “The stronger the States, the stronger will be the country.”

Recollecting Telangana State’s attempt to work together with MEA to promote robust bilateral trade with some countries, he said: “There was a news report saying Telangana State was thinking of creating its own foreign affairs ministry. Even before I could clarify on how a State could do that, I got a letter from the MEA, based on the news



report, saying you cannot do this as a State. I didn’t know how to react because it was purely based on a newspaper report”.

“We only planned to create a special purpose vehicle – Invest Telangana – a channel that exists in many States. We have to realise that States that want to leap-frog, pole vault and take India a couple of notches higher in terms of employment opportunities, in terms of great opportunities this country presents, have to be supported. They should not be held back,” the Minister said.

The Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh, in his keynote address, stressed the need to ensure steady growth of manufacturing sector even as he called for greater coordination between different Ministries in the Centre and the States.

“Manufacturing sector needs to grow. It is the most stable part of any economy in a country. If the manufacturing sector does not grow and we only depend on the service sector, I think we are living in a cloud and we need to come down to mother earth and ensure that the manufacturing sector grows.”