Telangana govt alleges Centre's 'bias' in approving Semiconductor projects

Hyderabad, Aug 12 (PTI) The BJP-led government at the Centre has been "blatantly discriminating" against Telangana in approving Semiconductor projects despite strong investor interest, the state government alleged.

While Telangana has a highly favourable environment for semiconductor manufacturing, the central government continues to maintain "intentional bias" against the state, an official release from the state government said on Tuesday.

“Despite multiple requests and representations by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy for approval of semiconductor projects in Telangana, the union government continues to show blatant discrimination against the state,” the release said.

The central government’s intervention is leading to a concentrated semiconductor ecosystem in BJP-favoured states, “unfairly outweighing” Telangana’s policy attractiveness, infrastructure robustness and political stability, it added.

The Union Cabinet today approved four semiconductor manufacturing units - two in Odisha and one each in Andhra Pradesh and Punjab - with a cumulative investment of Rs 46,00 crore, taking the total number of such projects under the Indian Semiconductor Mission (ISM) to 10.

During their Delhi visits, the CM as well as the Minister for IT & Industries Sridhar Babu had on several occasions requested the Union Ministers for approval of semiconductor projects.

The Telangana government alleged that some of the semiconductor companies which planned to set up facilities in the state are being relocated to other states due to the intervention of the Centre. PTI GDK ROH