PM's USD 5 trillion economy target a joke, should aim higher: T'gana CM KCR
Hyderabad, Feb 12: Dubbing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious goal of India achieving USD 5 trillion economy as a "joke" and "silly", Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday said the target should have been much bigger.
Replying to the debate on the Appropriation Bill in the State Assembly, Rao also known as KCR hit out at Modi saying that the whole country expected that the Prime Minister would speak something on the Adani issue in the Parliament and was disappointed.
The Chief Minister, referring to an article in an international magazine, said there was "License Raj" during the Congress rule while it was "Silence Raj" in the present government.
"By 2023-24, Modi said India will become a USD 5 trillion economy. That 5 trillion (economy) itself is a joke. Really silly. At least our aim should be big. We should dare to dream. That 5 trillion (economy aim) itself is very very less, out of which only USD 3.5 trillion was achieved," KCR slammed.
Comparing the governments of UPA and NDA, Rao said the country lost miserably in every sector and Telangana in particular lost about Rs three lakh crore in terms of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).
"Indian banks and also LIC have invested in that company (Adanis). The whole world was looking at Modi as to what he would say (on Adani's issues). He did not even utter a word on that subject. He was beating around the bush," KCR tore into the NDA government.
Ridiculing the argument that India has become the fifth largest economy in the world, Rao said it is per capita that has to be taken into consideration to assess any country's performance.
He said when it comes to per capita income, countries like Bangladesh and Bhutan are ahead of India.
Rao found fault with some people approaching the Supreme Court seeking a ban on BBC which recently aired a controversial programme on 2002 Gujarat riots.
Alleging that the NDA government is engaged in "endless privatisation of Public Sector Enterprises," KCR said the Central Government's policy appears to be "Socialisation of losses and privatisation of profits."
"Modi says the government has no business to do business. I say the government has every right to do business wherever it is required. Government has no business means it is escaping from the responsibility entrusted by the people of India. We should share the responsibility. You cannot shrug off," he said.
The Chief Minister also mocked Modi for launching Vande Bharat Express whenever a new train was introduced and said there are better trains like Rajdhani Express in the country.
Highlighting the alleged failures of the NDA government at the Centre, Rao questioned why there are water wars in the country when it is available in excess and credited the successive governments at the Centre with "bad water policy".
He also alleged that the States were forced to import coal even when the commodity was abundant in the country.
Meanwhile, Telangana Assembly was adjourned sine die.
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At least 19 killed as methane leak causes explosion at eastern Iran coal mine, state TV reports
Tehran (AP/PTI): A methane leak sparked an explosion at a coal mine in eastern Iran, killing at least 19 people and injuring another 17, Iranian state television reported Sunday.
The report said the deaths happened at a coal mine in Tabas, some 540 kilometers (335 miles) southeast of the capital, Tehran.
Authorities were sending emergency personnel to the area after the blast late Saturday, it said. Around 70 people had been working there at the time of the blast.
Oil-producing Iran is also rich in a variety of minerals. Iran annually consumes some 3.5 million tons of coal but only extracts about 1.8 million tons from its mines per year. The rest is imported, often consumed in the country's steel mills.
This is not the first disaster to strike Iran's mining industry. In 2013, 11 workers were killed in two separate mining incidents. In 2009, 20 workers were killed in several incidents. In 2017, a coal mine explosion killed at least 42 people.
Lax safety standards and inadequate emergency services in mining areas are often blamed for the fatalities.
