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Absolutely. Its not for kicks he is being called the CEO of Andhra Pradesh. Its no mean achievement to woo Microsoft to build a development center outside of USA leave alone one in Hyderabad. The problem though in India is unless these initiatives trickle down below the poverty line and offer real benefits to the poor, come election time, the flashy upper and upper-middle class are not going to save him.

From that angle this news is a positive development. Setting up of a new manufacturing facility always creates lots of jobs.

Right, Dilip - I think one of the biggest knocks on Naidu’s government has been that he has been so focused on IT that he tended to neglect the blue-collar workers and their industries. This will sure help stem those accusations.

Talking about foreign investments, AP still has a long way to go. In spite of the best efforts of Mr Naidu, our state still trails behind the likes of TN, Maharastra, Karnataka, Gujarat et al. But there is no denying that AP hasn’t seen a more active CM before. Who would have imagined that a politician would be pitching his might to get F1 racecourse set up in the sate capital? Now the latest development on this front is that even Shinde, the CM of Maharastra has dropped his hat in the ring and vying for the allotment of the racecourse to Mumbai. Activism breeds activism. Let us hope that in this flow the likes of Laloo, Mayawati et al get washed out.
On a different note, I am happy that they have chosen my hometown, Visakhapatnam to set up the automobile plant.

Well the decision is not yet finalized I guess.

http://www.sulekha.com/redirectnh.asp?cid=317918

Anyway, I am a big fan of VW cars and would love if it comes anywhere in India!

L.

Subhash, you are right in that we are not as ahead of the pack as you would imagine, but we are making some pretty big strides. A few years ago, to foreigners, India was simply Bombay, Calcutta or Delhi. And then, Madras and Bangalore became famous. It is only because of Naidu’s initiatives that Hyderabad and now to an extent Vishakhapatnam are trying to breach the ranks of well-established metroplexes. Something to be really proud of.

L, I hope it works out too. Naidu has a pretty good track record in these matters.

Naidu is the best! Incidentally, some scientifically-conducted survey/research on CMs and the quality of State administrations too concluded the same thing. Krishna (Karanataka) and Shinde (Maharashtra) followed at #2 and #3 respectively. I just can’t find the report. It might have been in India today.

Yes, competition is good, as we in Maharashtra have started noticing. Till 10 years back, since we were the only state that attracted investment, complacency had set in. But the recent strides made by AP and Karnataka have made our government sit up and match them too. The roads and highways in Maharashtra have undergone a wonderful transformation in the past 4-5 years or so and the Mumbai-Pune-Nashik triangle plans seem on track too.

Whichever state emerges #1 in this battle between AP, Karnatak and Maharashtra, all three states will be the winners.

By the way, if you know the requirements for holding an F1 race, Mumbai has a huuuuuuge edge over Hyd. If Bernie Ecclestone is really serious about giving India a race and if Shinde makes even a half-decent pitch, Mumbai will bag it and not Hyd.