A different kind of Davos trip
There’s a certain drama to landings in winter. The kind where the air feels sharper, the skies look too clean, and everyone instinctively pulls their coat closer. When Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy arrived in Zurich to begin Telangana’s Davos run, the cold outside didn’t matter much. The welcome waiting for him did.
At the airport, members of the Telangana diaspora gathered to receive the Chief Minister and his team, turning the arrival into something celebratory and more than a customary scheduled entry into Switzerland. The moment also added a formal note as India’s Ambassador to Switzerland, Mridul Kumar, received the Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy at Zurich Airport as Telangana prepared for the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2026 in Davos. Minister D. Sridhar Babu, who holds the IT and Industries portfolio, had already reached Davos.
In for a longer story
Telangana set the tone for Day 1 and made it clear to everyone who noticed, with awe, that this wasn’t a “drop in, sign a paper, and leave” kind of visit. The delegation came to speak about a longer story. TelanganaRising 2047, the bold plan that places the State’s next two decades on the global investment table, and the State’s newly unveiled growth model – CURE, PURE, RARE – were there for all to see, take note of, and admire!
The day began with a high-impact meeting with Alon Stopel, Chairman of the Israel Innovation Authority. The focused talks covered agriculture, climate solutions and startup innovation, with Israel expressing interest in supporting Telangana startups across AI and deeptech, including healthtech, agritech, cybersecurity and aerospace. What stood out was the plan to take this partnership into action through pilot programmes, including multiple AI-led pilots with Israeli startups.
Future City: Centre of the conversation
Soon after, Telangana took a bigger urban idea, Bharat Future City (BFC), into the meeting rooms and discussions. Envisioned as India’s first Net-Zero Greenfield Smart City, BFC is spread across 30,000 acres. In a meeting with the UAE Minister Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, the delegation explored cooperation on large infrastructure projects, with Future City at the centre of the conversation.
Chief Minister Revanth Reddy also spoke about the scale of the project and its planned zones for AI, education, healthcare, industries, housing and entertainment, while noting that global players such as Marubeni and Sembcorp are already on board. He also pointed to a recent MoU with Reliance Group’s Vantara for a new zoo inside Future City.
The UAE Minister responded positively and proposed a joint task force of officials from both sides to speed up implementation. He also suggested building a strategic link between the UAE food cluster and Telangana, with a focus on strengthening the rural economy.
Later in Davos, Revanth Reddy made an interesting proposal to have a WEF follow-up forum in Hyderabad every July, arguing that one year is too long in today’s business cycles. The idea received unanimous support at the “Join the Rise” event.
Day 1 in Davos, in other words, wasn’t about one or two announcements. It was about a pattern of meetings, partnerships, and a State arriving with a plan that wants to travel far beyond Davos.
