CHENNAI, Nov 16: Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday made a determined bid at hardselling his state to the captains of Tamil Nadu industry, wooing them with visions of a politically, socially stable and industry-friendly state.

Amidst bigwigs of various corporate houses in Tamil Nadu, at a meeting organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Chennai, Naidu revealed his strategy to develop Andhra Pradesh as a model state, not only industrially but also socially, by the turn of the century.

He said Andhra, which had already lined up investment proposals worth Rs 82,000 crore in the manufacturing sector, offered an industrially conducive environment. Owing to its two-thirds majority in the state assembly, the ruling Telugu Desam Party was capable of making quick across-the-table decisions. ``There is no question of high command,'' he said.

The strategy includes attracting investments, power sector reforms, rationalisation of subsidies and closure of sick and unviable state PSUs. The state government had already initiated the reforms process and it expected an additional resource accrual of Rs 2,099 crore annually.

It also envisaged developing Andhra into a leading state in the next 10 years by encouraging private and domestic investments and doubling the industrial output every five years, Naidu said. Necessary emphasis was being placed on developing infrastructure, development of select geographical areas and a transparent and effective decision-making machinery. Besides its stress on industrialisation, Andhra Pradesh was also seeking to upgrade its social infrastructure through public participation.

True to his image of a technocrat CM, Naidu disclosed that all the district headquarters in Andhra would be connected within two months to Hyderabad through a 2 mbps bandwidth over fibre optic/digital microwave links. This will enable video conferencing facilities too.

The proposed hi-tech park to be jointly promoted by L&T and AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation, Hyderabad Information Technology and Engineering Consultancy City and Indian Institute of Information Technology, would turn Hyderabad into `Cyber-abad' in the days to come, he said in a lighter vien.Terming the appointment of the present Reserve Bank of India governor C Rangarajan as a welcome move, Naidu said he expected the new incumbent to advise and assist him in all policy matters, especially in handling the state finances. It was for the first time that an economist was being elevated to a gubernatorial post and it was going to be a new approach in a new direction, he added. On his meeting with corporates in Chennai, he said it was not the first one as he had already visited other metros in the country like Delhi, Mumbai, and also toured other countries seeking corporate investments in Andhra Pradesh.

On the power scenario, Naidu said there were plans to corporatise the state electricity board, separate generation, transmission and distribution functions, and establishment of an independent regulatory commission. The state is confident of bridging the demand-supply gap by the turn of the century.

He said Andhra Pradesh had also identified development of 12 ports and 58 roads, bypasses and road over-bridges through privatisation on the build-own-transfer concept. There were plans to create a state road development fund, toll expressways and a state road development corporation. Likewise, airport expansion and development were also on the anvil, Naidu said.

In his welcome address, CII southern region chairman Venu Srinivasan called Naidu the ``change agent for Andhra, CEO of the state, and one instrumental in making the state AP incorporated.'' CII president N Kumar said the apex industry body and the AP government had set up a joint task force to achieve industrialisation of the state.

The professionalism displayed by the Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his team of senior ministers in attracting domestic investments could have proved to be an eye-opener for Tamil Nadu politicians and bureaucrats.

Alas, not one was present at the meeting between the Andhra team and Tamil Nadu corporates, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry here on Wednesday.

The determined efforts of Naidu and his finance minister P A Gajapathi Raju, major industries minister B B Khan and principal secretary (industries) P C Parakh seem to have paid rich dividends as Tamil Nadu corporates responded immediately.

Soon after the multi-media presentation by Naidu, projecting Andhra as an ideal investment destination, India Cements managing director N Srinivasan said the company planned to expand the capacity of its cement manufacturing unit in AP from one million tonne to three million tonne. This would entail an investment of Rs 700 crore.

Vinu Mammen of MRF hailed the presentation and expressed satisfaction at the industrial environment in Andhra. He also added that the tyre giant was seriously considering doubling its investment in the state. Asked about the absence of Tamil Nadu government officials at the meeting, a junior level functionary of CII sought to play it down saying ``it was planned as an all out Andhra show.''

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.