The Celebration Dinner to mark the culmination of the inaugural India Week saw several standing ovations for the Keynote Speaker KT Rama Rao (Minister for Municipal Administration & Urban Development, Industries, Commerce & IT, Telangana), as well as a clear call-for-action to drive investments into the state.
300 guests attended the dinner from across technology, business, policy, film and music. Attendees included film director Aarti Bagdi, actress Manjari Fadnis the rest of the cast of the film Chalti Rahe Zindagi, premiering in London last week. Kannada actress Sharmiela Mandre also attended, who starred in blockbuster films Gaalipata 2 and Kevvu Keka. Some of the largest corporate houses in India were also in attendance, as well as investors from France looking to expand their business into India.
KTR, as the Minister is popularly known, highlighted the remarkable progress made by Telangana in the last nine years. KTR was optimistic that by doing things right, what China could achieve in 30 years, India could do in less than 20 years. “As India, we have to focus on the fundamentals and basics the way Telangana did. We need to focus on the farmer, the youth, while creating a future that is based in innovation and making India a leader in the fourth Industrial Revolution,” he said.
His speech was to more than 300 attendees, including leading members of the Telangana diaspora, and drew several standing ovations.
During the Telangana government’s visit to the UK, KTR signed an Memorandum of Understanding with the London Stock Exchange Group CIO’s Anthony McCarthy for the establishment of a Technology Centre of Excellence in Hyderabad, generating up to 1,000 new jobs. Earlier in the day, KTR also held meetings with several other investors, as well as prominent members of the Telugu diaspora in the UK.
The Keynote Address from the UK was from Dame Arlene Foster, Former First Minister of Northern Ireland, who said she was looking forward to visiting Telangana next year for further engagmeents.
The evening was started with guests rising for the British and Indian national anthems. It was hosted by supermodel and influencer Elena Fernandes, with carnatic classical music from Ragatip, as well as a stand-up comedy performance from BBC award-winner Joshua Bethania.
The Dinner was marked the culmination of India Week, which started on 7 May with a CEOs Golf Weekend in Leicestershire, followed by an education conference and Awards in Oxford. The London leg was on 11-12 May, including the Ideas for India conference, an invite-only dinner in the House of Commons, and then the Celebration Dinner.
Find out more about India Week and the Education Conference and Awards.
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