“It’s the happiest day of my life,” exclaimed Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Nara Chandrababu Naidu on Friday, while addressing global corporate leaders who were guests at the 30th CII Partnership Summit in Visakhapatnam.
Mr. Naidu, who was touted to be the architect of the IT and Biotech industries in Hyderabad way back in the 1990s, could see a similar vibe in Visakhapatnam.
Mr. Naidu, the fourth time Chief Minister, was famous as the ‘CEO of AP Inc’ for his corporate style functioning during his first two terms in the combined A.P.
Commenting on the investment response from global corporates, Mr. Naidu said, “There were over 2,500 trade delegates across the globe, including 522 representing 72 countries, and the State could attract US $20 billion during the past 18 months.”
For A.P., which lost its jewel city Hyderabad along with revenue and other infrastructure in its bifurcation in 2014, the recent turnaround is a great deal of hope. It’s a Naidu mark push for the State.
Ever since the NDA government, which includes the TDP, the Jana Sena Party (JSP) and the BJP, came to power in 2024, Mr. Naidu, along with his son and IT and HRD Minister N. Lokesh, led numerous delegations to the U.S., Europe, Singapore, the UAE and other countries to pitch for investments. Besides, the Civil Aviation Minister K. Rammohan Naidu of the TDP in the Union Cabinet was instrumental in giving a boost to airport infrastructure and related investments in the State.
Andhra Pradesh has seven functional airports and is developing seven more. The 1,000-km coastline has 15 operational ports and six more are in the offing. The State aims to develop a port or harbour for every 50 km as per its plan. This apart, major development is underway in construction of the State and National Highways. The Centre has announced a permanent world-class convention centre in Visakhapatnam.
Added to this, Mr. Naidu has the strong political backing from the alliance partners Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre and JSP’s K. Pawan Kalyan in the State, which ensured a stable political set-up.
During his speech, an elated Mr. Naidu went on giving his plans and objectives to realise Viksit Andhra Pradesh, in line with Viksit Bharat, by 2047. The vision includes U.S. $1 trillion global investment in 10 years in Andhra Pradesh, drone taxis and quantum computers made in the State for geographies across the globe. It’s an aggressive plan and target indeed, but there are many takers for Mr. Naidu’s new dream.
Mr. Naidu’s Hyderabad magic started working. While he could bring Microsoft Development Centre to Hyderabad in the 1990s, he could repeat the same magic to attract Google, among other biggies, which came up with U.S. $15 billion investment proposal to set up AI Data Centre in Visakhapatnam.
A bunch of other entities, IBM, Infosys, TCS, Adani, Reliance, LuLu and Renew, etc, to name a few, came up with their proposals to set up facilities across the State in IT, FMCG and renewable power infrastructure.
Industry hails Naidu’s vision
While the scale of investments attracted in Andhra Pradesh in the turbulent global economic scenario left all spellbound, several of them came on record to attribute it to Mr. Naidu’s vision.
Bharat Biotech co-founder and MD Suchitra Ella said that the seeds sown by Mr. Naidu in Genome Valley in Hyderabad decades ago not only helped India but saved several countries through COVID vaccine made in India.
GMR Group Chairman G.M. Rao explained how Mr. Naidu’s push to GMR Greenfield International Airport in Hyderabad has become an economic growth engine, besides facilitating global connectivity.
That was not all. Mr. Naidu and his progressive policies earned him many fans in the industry.
LuLu Group Chairman M.A. Yusuff Ali, who had reservations to reveal why he backed off from investing during the term of the previous regime in Andhra Pradesh, is now back. He had promised LuLu mall during Mr. Naidu’s first term as Chief Minister in bifurcated Andhra Pradesh, but after the change of guard in the elections that followed, the project did not take off. “We are now starting the project in Visakhapatnam in a few days,” Mr. Yusuff Ali announced.
Mr. Naidu sums up and suggests investors, “You sign MoUs and our people will be after you and we will create the best industry environment here.”
Published – November 14, 2025 07:41 pm IST
