At a time when Chandrababu needed some positive issue to keep the morale of the TDP workers and leaders high, the partnership summit has come as a great relief. So far nothing tangible happened in Andhra Pradesh, except the growth statistics, to celebrate the rule of Naidu. The 18-month period of Naidu reminds one of the jobless growth of ‘India Shining’ days of NDA-1, in which Naidu was also a partner.
For the past 18 months Naidu has been laying foundation stones for airports, ports, corridors, food parks and to top it all the capital city. There has been no white paper from TDP government on the investments flown into Andhra Pradesh and number for jobs the youth of the state reaped.
In fact he faced more negative publicity than the acclaim normally associated with achievements that helped people enhance their living standards. The 18 months have passed creating hype about World Class Capital. Now, the capital project seems to have hit a rough weather and there is almost lull on the Capital front. So, Naidu is in bad need of some diversion. The ongoing janmabhumi program has no potential to compensate for the dip in Capital spirit.
At this juncture, Naidu managed the partnership summit to happen in Vizag and the summit has provided ample material to go round to project it as big success.
The CII-GoI-AP Partnership Summit began Sunday on a positive note with the signing spree of Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) for projects worth over Rs 6,200 crore by the state government with Reliance ADA Group and Bharat Forge Limited etc.
Reliance ADAG would invest Rs 5,000 crore to establish a world-class naval shipbuilding facility for strategic platforms at Rambilli near Visakhapatnam, and the Bharat Forge Limited would be investing over Rs. 1,200 crore to develop two industrial parks in Nellore and Anantapur districts of the state.
Reliance ADAG signed the MoU with the state government for establishing the facility with an initial outlay of Rs. 5,000 crore. Reliance Defence, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure, will implement the project which is proposed to be located close to the proposed naval alternate operating base at Rambilli. The Vizag naval facility will complement Reliance Group’s existing facility at Pipavav in Gujarat with a clear focus on building strategic assets for the Indian Navy.
Reliance ADAG chairman Anil Ambani said the facility would generate thousands of skilled jobs. “It is estimated that Indian Navy will spend over Rs. 3 lakh crore or nearly Rs 20,000 crore a year on acquisitions and fleet modernisation of submarines and aircraft carriers over the next 15 years, creating a huge pipeline of opportunity for the proposed world-class naval facility,” he added.
Bharat Forge Limited would be developing an integrated automotive park in Nellore at an estimated to cost Rs. 1,200 crore is expected to generate 300 direct jobs and many more indirectly.
The worth of MoUs and their job potential will dominate Naidu’s speeches and review meetings for the next few months.
