How Chandrababu Naidu Is Turning Andhra Pradesh Into Southern India's Investment Hub

While states like Tamil Nadu have been engaged recently in a war of words with the Centre over the delimitation and language row, Naidu, meanwhile, has kept his focus firmly on investment in his state.

In the past three months, the state has attracted over Rs 9,700 crore as investment in the manufacturing sector, especially of electronics and consumer durables.

Southern Andhra, which borders Bengaluru and Chennai, is emerging as a new industrial hub.

With single-window clearance and ease of doing business at the centre of the Naidu government’s focus, many big-ticket projects have picked Andhra as their preferred destination. Some projects from even the neighbouring Telugu state, Telangana, have found it feasible to shift to AP. “Premier Energies, one of the largest solar panel manufacturers in the country, has recently chosen to move from Telangana to Andhra Pradesh. This is just one example of what has been witnessed recently," an Andhra Pradesh government source told News18.

The setting up of a plant by LG is yet another example of how Andhra Pradesh seems to be a preferred destination. “An early mover has been Sri City, an industrial park located in Tirupati. LG Electronics already has a factory in the north (Noida) and west (Maharashtra) and was looking to set up a factory in south India. AP provided attractive incentives, and LG Electronics has decided to set up Rs 5,000 crore in investment here. Recently suppliers to LG Electronics have added another Rs 2,000 crore of investment," the official told News18.

While asked on many platforms about the “Hindi imposition" that southern states seem to be really perturbed about, the father-and-son duo of Chandrababu Naidu and Lokesh have maintained that while the mother tongue should certainly get preference, other global challenges must also be countered. They have also urged people, especially the youth in their state, to be skilled in multiple languages, including international languages. With most investments in the electronics sector coming from Korean and Japanese companies, the state government has also committed to offering training and language classes to the employable youth in these languages.

Brought to power in the state of Andhra Pradesh with an overwhelming majority about a year ago, the task for the Chandrababu Naidu-led government is cut out. A hard negotiator in the interest of his state, Naidu has also been using his personal equations with industry stalwarts, not only in India but across the globe. The most recent example is his meeting with Microsoft founder Bill Gates for his AI mission. His government is already delivering governance services using WhatsApp and now would like to extend it further in the fields of healthcare and policing.