KTR invites ITC to establish agricultural, food production, and processing enterprises

Rama Rao also asked ITC to purchase raw materials from regional farmers for its food processing facilities, particularly potatoes for its Bingo brand of potato chips. He said that the State will assure high-quality raw materials through agricultural experts and Rythu Bandhu Samithis.

KT Rama Rao, the minister of information technology and industries, invited ITC Limited on Monday to establish an agricultural and food processing facility in the state's Special Food Processing Zone in addition to a manufacturing centre in Telangana.

The Minister said Telangana was preparing 10,000 acres for special food processing zones and that the State would extend all support and cooperation if ITC came forward to expand its presence here. The Minister was speaking after ITC's state-of-the-art Integrated Food Manufacturing and Logistics Facility at Medak was opened in the presence of ITC Ltd chairman and managing director Sanjiv Puri.

The Minister asked Puri to investigate the prospects of ITC's manufacturing cluster in the State and promised ITC tailored incentives to resuscitate Ballarpur Industries Limited (BILT) in Mulugu district. He also asked Puri to take into account leveraging the conglomerate's CSR operations to enhance the health and educational facilities in the area because Telangana was logistically in the best possible location—smack in the heart of the country.