A tireless persuader, with an awesome record of getting investment into Andhra
The pace of industrialisation in Andhra Pradesh may not be the same following the sudden demise of chief minister Rajasekhara Reddy.
Reddy was known for his clout with the Union government, which no other Congress leader currently enjoys. He successfully lobbied to get the Rs 6,000-crore NTPC-BHEL power equipment project to the state despite stiff competition from other states, including Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
For this, he had made several trips to Delhi to convince the Centre on the need for more manufacturing units in the state.
“I have never come across a politician who constantly persuaded the Government of India to get the project located in Andhra Pradesh,’’ said C P Singh, managing director of the joint venture company, adding that the project was a personal achievement for Reddy.
The unit that will come up at Chittoor will be much larger than the three-decade old BHEL Ramachandrapuram unit in Hyderabad. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was to unveil the foundation stone for the project during the middle of this month. The first phase would be ready by 2011-12 and create direct employment for 6,000 people and indirect jobs for another 25,000.
Reddy began his second stint as chief minister by signing files relating to enhancement of the rice quota for whitecard holders and a nine-hour assured daily power supply to the farm sector. In a few weeks, he focused on giving a fillip to the manufacturing sector in the state, by attracting new companies and upgrading existing units.
Among others, Reddy built up a case for royalty from the Krishna Godavari Basin on the reasoning that the landfall point of Reliance Industries’ gas was located in Andhra Pradesh. He also made it clear that the state must be given more gas from RIL’s D-6 offshore well in the KG Basin, to set up new gas-based power projects and industries.
He also made a representation to the 13th Finance Commission seeking Rs 46,336 crore for implementing and upgrading various welfare schemes in the state. Of this, Rs 20,000 crore was sought for irrigation projects and Rs 3,500 crore for roads.
Based on the consultations with the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) chairman L Man Singh on city gas distribution and natural gas pipeline network supply and related issues, Reddy ordered setting up a committee to identify viable areas to ensure that gas reached domestic and industrial users through the piped network in five years.
RIL, Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation, Infrastructure Development Finance Company and the Andhra Pradesh government would soon sign a shareholding agreement providing for 67 per cent share to RIL and 11 per cent each to the companies in Krishna-Godavari Gas Network Ltd, formed to develop a network to supply gas. He also gave a nod for the Rs 3,800 crore gas grid project for Hyderabad.
The state also succeeded in getting Bharat Forge to agree to establish a nuclear power plant equipment unit at Nellore at an estimated cost of Rs 2,500 crore, The project is being worked out and would generate employment to 5,000 people. Tamil Nadu vied with the state for the project.
“Andhra Pradesh made remarkable achievements in industrial development during the last five years. It is now one of the best states for doing business,’’ according to Y Harish Chandra Prasad, chairman, CII Andhra Pradesh.
The chief minister also convinced the Nuclear Power Corporation to set up a 2,000-Mw nuclear power plant in Pulivendula, his hometown. Another 4,000 Mw thermal power project would come up at Vadarevu through a special purpose vehicle.
Though the state made a vain bid to get the Tata Nano project, it succeeded in getting Tata Advanced Systems Ltd to commence work on its $350 million deal for manufacturing fuselages for Sikorsky S-92 helicopters at the aerospace and precision engineering SEZ at Adibhatla village near the Hyderabad international airport. Industry was committed to invest Rs 3,000 crore in the SEZ, that would provide over 10,000 jobs in the next five years.
Nova Integrated Systems, a joint venture of Tata Group and Israel Aerospace Industries, committed an investment of $50 million. Another US-based chopper components’ manufacturing firm, Kaizen Technologies, committed Rs 100 crore in the manufacture of spares at the Lepakshi Aerospace Park coming up in Anantapur district.
Other projects include Elbit India Agricultural Ventures, an Israeli company, that proposed to start a dairy farm with 10,000 cattle at Palamaner in Chittoor district with an investment of Rs 600 crore. It plans to set up another unit at Pulivendula in Kadapa.
Only time would tell if Reddy’s dream to make Hyderabad a ‘worldclass city’ and Andhra Pradesh the ‘most preferred destination of the investors in Asia’ and a transit halt between Europe and China would be reality or not.
