Industrialists are not enemies: Naidu

VIJAYAWADA: Is chief minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu following in the footsteps of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had developed Gujarat during his tenure as chief minister with his investor-friendly policies?

The answer seems to be a firm yes going by his instructions for transforming the state into Swarnandhra Pradesh (Golden AP) at the first collectors' conference here Thursday.

The chief minister asked the district collectors to be cooperative with the industrialists who approach them with a proposal to set up industries and see that they would not face any problem in getting benefits from the government that includes allotment of land for the industry.

'Don't see industrialists as enemies. We need to encourage them to usher in an era of development. We all know how Gujarat developed,' he said and added that his government wanted inclusive growth involving the public.

On the other hand, Naidu also reiterated his commitment to fulfilling the promises made during the elections and said that the government would write another letter to the RBI governor asking him to reschedule the loans.

'If the RBI does not agree to it, we shall use other options for the loan waiver. But we are committed to the waiver of farm loans as well as DWCRA loans,' he affirmed.

He also stressed the need for urbanisation and announced that the government would develop Vizag, Vijayawada-Guntur and Tirupati as three mega cities besides developing 13 other smart cities.

Announcing 'seven missions' for the development of the state, Naidu vowed to turn the state into 'Swarnadhra Pradesh'.

Explaining the missions, he emphasised upon the need for developing agriculture sector and water conservation to make the state drought-free and asked the collectors to achieve 100 per cent water conservation.

The CM also underlined the need for developing ports and highlighted that four deep water ports were available in the state and wanted to develop port-based infrastructure.

Several neighboring states, including Telangana and Karnakata, would depend on AP for cargo transportation, he said. The government would make Rayalaseema as the 'seed capital' of India, he declared and also stressed the need for the development of 'services sector' stating that it would generate employment.

Plans would be evolved to develop the state by 2029.

The seven sectoral missions announced by Naidu were the primary sector mission, social sector mission, skill and knowledge sector mission, service sector mission, industrial sector mission, infrastructure sector mission and the urban sector mission.