Telangana’s Moment on the Global Stage

When Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy walked into the Annual Conference of the Public Affairs Forum of India (PAFI) in New Delhi this week, few expected the day to end with Telangana making its way onto the global map of economic conversations. Yet, that’s exactly what happened when the Chief Minister held a one-on-one meeting with World Economic Forum (WEF) President and CEO Børge Brende.

The encounter wasn’t mere diplomatic courtesy. It was a quiet acknowledgment that Telangana often dismissed as a “regional success story”—is now commanding international attention. Brende’s words were telling: “I’ve been reading up on Telangana. Your state has made extraordinary progress over the past 12 months.”

Pause for a moment. This is the President of the WEF, the same institution that hosts the world’s most influential business and political leaders at Davos, publicly acknowledging Telangana’s progress. That doesn’t happen by accident.

And when he asked the Chief Minister about the “secret” behind this growth, Reddy’s answer was disarmingly simple: “Hard work and support from everyone.” Politicians often rely on jargon and half-baked slogans. This time, the response cut through the noise. Whether one agrees with his politics or not, the Chief Minister has managed to package Telangana’s success story into something both humble and confident.

Brende went a step further, inviting Revanth Reddy to Davos in January and promising to visit Hyderabad soon to explore avenues of cooperation. That’s not just a photo-op offer—it signals a door opening for Telangana to showcase its “Rising 2047” vision to the world.

The bigger question is—what does Telangana do with this new global spotlight? For far too long, state politics have been consumed by local rivalries and petty score-settling. But here is a chance to shift gears, to reframe Telangana not as a peripheral player but as a state capable of shaping India’s international economic narrative.

Let’s not forget Davos isn’t about speeches alone. It’s about deal-making in hotel lobbies, strategic partnerships over coffee, and positioning states as investment-ready destinations. If Telangana plays its cards right, this could mean more than just global recognition; it could translate into jobs, infrastructure, and fresh capital flows.

Of course, symbolism has to meet substance. Telangana Rising 2047 is an ambitious slogan, but without sustained reforms, accountability, and real execution, it risks becoming yet another forgotten vision document. The challenge before Revanth Reddy is to ensure that this moment of recognition is not squandered.

The truth is, Telangana is standing at an inflection point. The world has noticed. Now, it’s up to the state to prove it deserves the seat at the table.

And perhaps, just perhaps, when Revanth Reddy lands in Davos this January, Telangana won’t just be a talking point in passing it could be a case study in how a young state carved its place on the global stage