The Telangana cabinet on Tuesday gave in-principle approval for setting up of five private universities in the state.

CII-AMITY, MNR, Gurunanak, NICMAR, and Kaveri are the universities which will come up. The last one will be an agriculture university.

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao told reporters after the Cabinet meeting that a pharma university and an aviation university are also proposed.

The pharma university will be the first of its kind and during the recent visit by Industries Minister K.T. Rama Rao to the US, American companies came forward to be a part of this initiative by sharing technical know-how.

India’s first civil aviation university is also proposed to come up in Hyderabad. The Chief Minister noted that the sector is fast growing.

KCR, as the Chief Minister is popularly known, said Hyderabad airport has become the fourth-largest airport in India after airports at Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. It has overtaken Kolkata and Chennai airports.

“In terms of area, Hyderabad is the biggest airport in India. Delhi has 5,000 acres land while Hyderabad airport has 5,200 acres,” he said.

The government has also asked airport operator GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd to develop a second runway to meet the growing demand.

In another major decision, the Cabinet decided to scrap Government Order (GO) 111 which was issued in 1996 to protect Himayat Sagar and Osman Sagar, the two reservoirs built across Musi river.

KCR said the GO was being scrapped as promised to people of Vikarabad and Ranga Reddy districts. He, however, assured that the government will not allow pollution of Musi and Esa rivers and the two reservoirs.

A committee headed by the Chief Secretary with the Pollution Control Board, Forest and Environment Department will be constituted, which will decide how to move ahead. It will declare green zones and prepare a master plan accordingly.