Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said on Saturday that Davos became a myth as it was considered a place where the affluent people gather to do business, and it was he who broke that by setting the trend in the early 1990s for the Indian States to participate in the World Economic Forum (WEF) held every year.
Mr. Naidu recalled that he and the former Karnataka Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, used to aggressively showcase the investment opportunities in Hyderabad and Bangalore (now Bengaluru) during those years, and in due course worked together with competitive spirit.
The Chief Minister said he indulged in competitive-cooperative federalism with his Maharashtra and Telangana counterparts Devendra Fadnavis and A. Revanth Reddy at the WEF-2025.
“Davos is a place for networking, rather than merely a business event where a flurry of MoUs are signed. It is an avenue where heads of countries and corporate leaders assemble and discuss the world’s way forward. I was there to upgrade our knowledge and get a sense of the direction in which Andhra Pradesh should move from now on,” Mr. Naidu said while addressing a press conference at his residence near here.
The Chief Minister insisted that he was bearing the burden of promoting ‘Brand A.P.’ that had been totally destroyed, and he was hopeful that entrepreneurs would line up sooner than later to invest in the State, which was facing two major problems: the lack of a thriving capital city and a good business ecosystem.
Power of AI
However, Mr. Naidu said he was overwhelmed by the response from Bill Gates to the State’s growth potential. He said he invited Mr. Gates to head an advisory panel being formed by the Government of Andhra Pradesh to harness the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in all walks of life.
Mr. Gates was keen on collaborating with the State government for evolving the best healthcare model that could be scaled up at the national level, and supporting the technology-driven initiatives in the agriculture sector.
Mr. Naidu said he had 27 one-on-one meetings, four roundtable conferences and three congress sessions in Davos, where he received a positive feedback about the efforts being made by the State Government to undo the damage that had been done by the previous dispensation, and providing a conducive atmosphere for doing businesses.
He said the focus was on developing A.P. in IT and AI, transforming the State into a petrochemical hub, and unlocking the potential of the State’s blue economy. Besides, emphasis was laid on reaching the Sustainable Development Goals.
Global Leadership Centre
Further, the Chief Minister said the State Government was in the process of establishing a Global Leadership Centre in association with the IMD Business School-Singapore and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Amaravati where global entrepreneurs would be nurtured and training imparted in setting up new benchmarks in corporate governance.
The BPCL was expected to complete the DPR in six and commence works on its refinery project at Ramayapatnam in which about ₹96,000 crore was being invested by the PSU oil refinery.
The State Government was looking forward to the NMDC for allotment of iron ore to Arcelor Mittal - Nippon Steel for the development of a 14 MTPA steel plant near Anakapalli.
Green energy
Petronas and GreenKo were set to manufacture green ammonia at the Nagarjuna Fertilizers & Chemicals’ plant in Kakinada in less than a year, thereby taking a big lead on the green energy front. The State Government was making efforts to attract investments to the tune of ₹10 lakh crore in the green energy sector, including the downstream industries.
Mr. Naidu said Google was positive on setting up a facility in Visakhapatnam, and together with the likes of TCS, it would change the IT landscape in the Port City. The State Government was pursuing a plan to develop an airport with IndiGo and Tata Airlines, for which an action plan was being prepared.
The Chief Minister said the Kadapa steel plant was still on the government’s agenda, about which he had fresh deliberations with the Jindal Group.
Telangana was working with the A.P. Government for the development of a dry port that would help exporting goods made in Telangana. A similar facility was sought by the Maharashtra government to cater to the exporters based in some parts of that State, Mr. Naidu added.
Published - January 25, 2025 08:19 pm IST
