Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Friday expressed confidence that Hyderabad would soon emerge as the global city.

Speaking after launching the second phase of Driver-cum-Owner scheme of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) at Necklace Road here, the Chief Minister accused the previous regimes of ignoring the development of Hyderabad. He said that the city was left to the mercy of land mafia and encroachers. He said focused development would have turned Hyderabad into an international city.

The Chief Minister also assured that the State Government would take all measures to eradicate unemployment from the State by initiating different schemes. He informed that a Skill Development University is being set up in the State to help the youth.

KCR also informed that Hyderabad would be hosting an international conference on Information Technology in 2018.

Appreciating the GHMC for handing over 406 cars to unemployed youth as part of the Driver-cum-Owner scheme, the Chief Minister directed GHMC Commissioner & Special Officer Somesh Kumar to extend the scheme to 600 more beneficiaries.

Addressing the gathering, Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattareyya said that the Centre was keen on establishing a Skill Development University in Hyderabad and urged the Chief Minister to allocate land for the proposed university.

The GHMC Special Officer informed that the corporation has spent about Rs 21 crore on the Driver-cum-Owner scheme which includes a subsidy of Rs 3 crore provided by the State Government. While 105 cars were given in the first phase, there were 303 beneficiaries in the second phase. He informed that all beneficiaries have been provided health insurance cover of Rs 50,000 each.

Later, the Chief Minister handed over the car keys among the beneficiaries.

Deputy Chief Ministers Mahmood Ali and Dr T Rjaiah, ministers Nayani Narasimha Reddy, T Padma Rao, P Mahender Reddy and Talasani Srinivas Yadav, TRS MP Konda Vishveswar Reddy, MLAs, MLCs and other officials were also present on the occasion.