At a meeting organised jointly by the Indian embassy, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and US-India Business Council here on Wednesday, Naidu said he also held talks with the IBM officials for setting up an "electronic government" for smooth business transactions in the state. The "electronic government" would allow a businessman to transact his business without facing any bureaucratic hurdles, Naidu said.

Expounding his vision of making Andhra Pradesh a model for the entire country, Naidu said an "electronic government" would go a long way in bringing about efficiency in government operations.

Power minister PR Kumaramangalam, who was also present at the meeting, said India would meet 80 per cent to 85 per cent of its power needs from non-polluting sources such as nuclear,hydro, solar and wind by the middle of the next century.

Indian ambassador Naresh Chandra noted that despite the US sanctions against India, business ties between the two countries have improved. He hoped that the house of representatives will also pass the senate measure giving authority to president Bill Clinton to waive the sanctions against India.

CII president Rajesh Shah contrasted the slump in many of the Asian countries with India's six per cent annual rate of growth.

Joe Hillings, chairman of the Policy Committee of the US-India Business Council and vice-president of Enron, said that the power giant plans to invest $8 billion to 10 billion in India over the next several years.

Talking about India's achievements in the communications field, Naidu said India had recently signed an agreement to launch a German communications satellite.

Referring to reports that the Tatas had been invited to participate in a project to make Hyderabad an international airport, Naidu said he wanted to makeHyderabad the "transit hub between Europe and China" but it should not be viewed in the context of rivalry with any state.

Naidu added that international investors could not afford to ignore a potentially vast market like India.

The chief minister also said that he had discussed some future plans and other developmental activities in the state with World Bank president James Wolfensohn.

He also expressed confidence that Andhra Pradesh will be able to achieve cent per cent literacy in 5 to 10 years and increase its per capita income seven-fold by 2020.