Industry and the Services Sector

If agriculture is the base of Telangana's rural economy, industry and services centred on Hyderabad are the engines of its growth. The state capital has become one of India's foremost hubs for information technology and life sciences.

Information technology (IT/ITeS): Hyderabad's technology corridor — popularly known as HITEC City and the wider Cyberabad area — hosts a large number of Indian and multinational technology companies and has grown into one of the country's biggest IT-export centres, employing lakhs of professionals. The clustering of firms, campuses and skilled talent here is a classic example of an agglomeration economy.

Pharmaceuticals and life sciences: Telangana is a national leader in pharma and biotechnology. Genome Valley, on the outskirts of Hyderabad, is a large dedicated life-sciences and biotechnology cluster hosting research and manufacturing units. The region is often described as a major centre of India's bulk-drug and vaccine industry.

Other industries: Cement (drawing on the state's limestone), textiles and cotton-based industries, engineering, and granite/stone processing are also significant.

Industrial-incentive framework — TS-iPASS: To attract investment, Telangana introduced the Telangana State Industrial Project Approval and Self-certification System (TS-iPASS) — a single-window clearance mechanism that promises time-bound approvals for new industrial projects, with self-certification and penalties for delays in granting clearances. By reducing the time and uncertainty of getting permissions, TS-iPASS is designed to make the state more attractive to investors. …