Hyderabad, Telangana's Industries, Commerce, and Information Technology Minister K. T. Rama Rao on Wednesday claimed that Telangana is the "most successful startup" of independent India.

He said the latest statistics released by the Central Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation show that Telangana's Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) and per capita income grew by 130 per cent and 125 per cent, respectively, in the last seven years.

Addressing the annual session and leadership summit of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)Awith the theme 'India@75: Catalyzing Change for New India', he pointed out that Telangana's per capita income which was Rs 1,24,000 in 2014 has now gone up to Rs. 2,78,000. Similarly, the GSDP, which was Rs.4.9 lakh crore, increased to Rs 11.54 lakh crore. "This shows how the state has been able to do exceedingly well," he said.

He quoted the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) report to say that Telangana is the fourth largest contributor to India's GDP.

KTR, as the minister is popularly known, said Telangana was able to make tremendous progress with innovation in its policies, infrastructure and inclusive growth. "The state has set new benchmarks and emerged as a model for the country," he said.

Under the new industrial policy TSiPASS, the state has so far given 18,000 clearances with investments to the tune of Rs. 2.3 lakh crore and direct job potential of 16 lakh.

He said the growth was achieved despite bifurcation blues in some areas, demonetisation, and Covid-19 pandemic.

Telangana spent extensive money on ramping up infrastructure. The installed power which was 7000 MW in 2014 has gone up to 16,000 MW. It is the only state in the country providing 24x7 free power to small and marginal farmers, he said.

The state spent $7 billion on Mission Bhagiratha to ensure drinking water to every household. Under the project, 1.40 lakh km long pipelines were laid to provide drinking to 10 million households. Drawing inspiration from this project, the central government launched 'Har ghar jal', he said.

Telangana also conceptualised and completed world's largest lift irrigation project Kaleshwaram in 4 years, lifting water from Godavari river to a height ranging from 32 metres above sea level to 612 metres above sea level using 137 MW pumpsets.

He claimed that the state also showcased inclusive growth as it did not let down agriculture. The contribution of agriculture to GSDP increased from 16 per cent to 21 per cent.

By ramping up its food production, Telangana replaced Punjab as India's granary.

The state under leadership of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekar Rao also launched innovative schemes like Rythu Bandhu under which every farmer gets Rs 10,000 per acre each year as farm input subsidy. The state is spending Rs 15,000 crore annually on this scheme benefiting 62 lakh farmers. "No other leader in any state or at the centre implemented this kind of scheme. This has inspired the government of India to launch PM Kisan," he said.

KTR said while growing industrially, the state ensured that the environment is not affected. Telangana ranks number one in the country in improving green cover. The green cover has increased from 24 per cent to 31.7 per cent thanks to a massive plantation programme taken up by the state government.