Andhra CM Naidu vows to make his state 'innovation valley' of India

Naidu said that the capital Amravati would house nine "happy cities" with a perfect work-life balance for its residents.
Andhra CM Naidu vows to make his state 'innovation valley' of India
Andhra CM Naidu vows to make his state 'innovation valley' of India
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Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday said his government was taking steps to make the state Indias "innovation valley" with its capital Amravati housing nine "happy cities" with a perfect work-life balance for its residents.

"The crucial part of Amravati will be the Amravati Media City (AMC), which will focus on media, entertainment, social media and other cutting edge technologies. This city will act as its hub," Naidu told a group of businessmen explaining the steps his government is taking to make Andhra a new investment destination.

Naidu was addressing a workshop - "Andhra Pradesh: The Emerging Hub of Indian Media", organised by Centre for Strategy and Leadership in Delhi.

"We are committed to make Andhra Pradesh the best state to work and live in the country. We will make it the innovation valley. Amravati will be the hub of this innovation which will comprise nine cities - Media City, Government City, Justice City, Finance City, Knowledge City, Tourism City, Electronics City and Sports City. Our hardships have posed as obstacles but haven't distracted us from taking our minds off our single-minded goal of developing Andhra Pradesh," Naidu said.

He was referring to the central government's refusal to give the state a special category status to compensate for the losses it suffered due to 2014 bifurcation that led to the creation of Telangana. 

The Chief Minister said despite having to start from the scratch the state grew around 10-11% per annum with significant increase in per capita income.

The government's vision 2036 for the Media City at Amaravati is to develop it into a world class media hub with a long term vision to host International events like Cannes Film festival and Grammy awards.

Naidu stressed that his government's vision is to make the nine proposed cities not just the best in terms of technology and services but "as ‘happy cities' with a perfect work-life balance for its residents".

"No compromises will be made. These cities will not just be sustainable and state-of-the-art, but will bring out the best in people," the Chief Minister said.

Naidu said the media city would act as the hub for four elements - films and TV, animation, VFX and gaming, digital advertising and social media and telecom.

Vikas Sharma, Director, Centre for Strategy and Leadership, said Amravati would be India's first future city that would fuel the growth of India, particularly southern parts of India. 

"It will be hub of all major activities in India. It will also attract other countries and organisations to associate and invest with Amravati."

Earlier on Saturday, Naidu objected to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks, saying he was pained to hear Modi comparing him with "corrupt politicians" and talking about "petty things" during his reply to the TDPs no-confidence motion in Parliament.

"As a Prime Minister of this country, you should not talk like that...you should not talk about petty things," Naidu told reporters in Delhi.

Modi in his reply to the debate in the Lok Sabha on Friday said when the TDP pulled out of the NDA, he called Naidu to tell him that he was falling in a trap of his rival YSRCP.

The Prime Minister also alleged that the TDP was trying to cover up its failures by making false allegations against the Centre and the scores of local politics were being settled in Parliament. 

Naidu said such statements were not expected from a person sitting on a post of Prime Minister. 

"He said you are falling in the trap of YSRCP. I told him as far as I am doing right things, nothing can happen to me and my party. I also asked him how can he compare me with tainted people... YSRCP's leader is going to court every week. We are in Parliament," Naidu said.

The Chief Minister said the Prime Minister told him that Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhara Rao was more matured than Naidu.

"I said the Prime Minister is not supposed to use such language," Naidu said. 

The no confidence motion was moved by Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP) which until recently was an NDA constituent but pulled out of the grouping to demand special category status for Andhra Pradesh that was bifurcated and Telangana carved out of it in 2014.

The bifurcation is said to have caused huge financial and resource losses to Andhra as capital Hyderabad and IT city Cyberabad went to Telangana.

 

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