(L-R) Syed Mohammed Azeez Ul Hassan, Aijaz Ahmed Khan, Abdul Qadeer Siddiqui, Deputy CM Telangana Mohammed Mahmood Ali, Dr. Faiz Al-Abideen, Dr. Sayed Ali Mahmoud, Mirza Qudrath Nawaz Baig, Mohammed Abdul Waheed, Mohammed Mustafa Ali. — SG photo by Abdul Rahman M. Baig
Abdul Rahman M. Baig
Saudi Gazette
JEDDAH — Telangana’s Deputy Chief Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali called on Saudis to invest in the new Indian state (29th) with the pledge that their investments along with the state are sure to grow as the chief minister and his party are working on the plank of development.
He was speaking at the Global Investment Management group forum, under the supervision of Dr. Syed Ali Mahmoud. A luncheon in honor of the Deputy CM was hosted at Rosewood Corniche hotel.
Dr. Syed introduced the deputy CM to the Saudi dignitaries and businessmen who had come in good numbers as the first Muslim deputy chief minister of an Indian state ever since India got Independence in 1947. He holds the revenue portfolio.
Mahmood Ali, while expressing the sentiments of reviving the age-old ties between Saudi Arabia and the former princely state of Hyderabad, invited the Saudi businessmen to invest in Telangana, especially in Hyderabad. “Hyderabad is a technology hub and there are lots of investment opportunities in the city and the state, especially in manufacturing and infrastructure sectors and other industries.
We want to make Telangana a golden state in the next 5-10 years just like Saudi Arabia, where every citizen gets his due right especially in education and healthcare.
“So I invite Saudis to visit our state and benefit from its investor-friendly schemes. He further said that we would also form an NRI Ministry very soon for which we have already received the approval from the Cabinet.
“Telangana is the first state in India to give judicial and executive powers to Waqf (endowment) boards. It was done in just 57 days after our party got power,” said Ali, who became a member of the Legislative Council in 2010.
He added: “I have become the Deputy Chief Minister to serve the community of Telangana. I do not come from any political background nor am I a politician. We have our own family business for more than 6 decades and this has enabled me to contribute socially. I am an ordinary man.”
“Our chief minister is planning to visit Jeddah and Riyadh in the next six months to meet prominent Saudi businessmen and government officials here and brief them about the investment. He lauded Chief Minister K. Chnadrasekhar Rao (KCR) for reviving the Ganga Jamuna Tradition (A euphemism for the mutually participatory co-existence of Hindu and Muslim culture) which was very common in Hyderabad before the independence. KCR proved this with action by hoisting the Indian flag in Golconda Fort on the Independence Day this year.
Dr. Faiz Al-Abideen, Special Adviser to members of Saudi royal family, who is also the director of foreign investment committee was present in the luncheon. He had discussions with the deputy chief minister on various subjects. He confirmed in the meeting that an investment of about $3-3.5 billion in Telangana state to set up the first coal fire power plant to a ton of 2000 Megawatt to 3000 Megawatt along with his American partners Dr. Mohammed, Chinese partners Ziang and Gammon group Saudi Arabia of which he is the CEO.
“We will be signing the Memorandum of Understanding with the Telangana Chief Minister during my visit to Hyderabad in the last week of October. Hopefully, this will be our first trial project between the Saudis, American, Chinese and the government of Telangana. Apart from this we’ll also be looking at other projects like hospitals and medical tourism, which is rapidly growing in India and hotels, which are forefront investments. We will also be looking to identify other investments,” Dr. Faiz said.
Abdul Qadeer Siddiqui, member of Saudi Council of Chambers, congratulated the Deputy CM for performing Haj and then assured him that he will spread the message to Saudi businessmen to visit Telangana and invest there.
Among the attendees from the Indian community were Aijaz Ahmed Khan, Mirza Qudrath Nawaz Baig, Syed Mohammed Azeez Ul Hassan, Mohammed Abdul Waheed and Dr. Syed Ali Mahmoud. Mirza Qudrath provided the vote of thanks.
