Chandrababu Naidu targeting US$ 2 billion in IT investments in Andhra Pradesh

Visakhapatnam: The Andhra Pradesh (AP) government aims to attract $2 billion of investments and create about 100,000 jobs in the information technology (IT) sector, chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said on Monday.

Addressing delegates at Blockchain Business Conference at Visakhapatnam, Naidu, who explained how his government is using technology to monitor work on a real-time basis, also remarked that “election is not a problem”, hinting that he was confident of winning the 2019 Andhra Pradesh elections thanks to various schemes introduced during his governance in the last three years.

“I am confident (of winning elections). We have real-time governance and all our departments are online. If someone has a problem, they can send a message through the call centre (set up by the Andhra Pradesh government for public grievances) on a real-time basis. There is 80% public satisfaction,” said Naidu. He added that the state government is also monitoring ground water and reservoir water levels on a real-time basis using technology.

Stressing on the need to utilize technology in governance, Naidu said blockchain is the “real future” and encouraged entrepreneurs to come forward with ideas pertaining to it. Naidu stated that if his government is convinced of the ideas, it would be implemented. He pointed to the government’s e-pragati initiative which has brought all its services under one roof.

He also noted that there is a need to utilise technology to improve the agriculture sector in the state. “Soil testing is a big problem. But recently, Microsoft came forward to do it on a real-time basis,” Naidu mentioned, and announced that Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates will visit the state in November to attend an event on agriculture in the state.

Naidu also said nine companies have already set shop in Fintech Valley in Visakhapatnam and that another 16 are set to come. Terming the arrival of blockchain as the “fourth industrial revolution”, he asserted that Visakhapatnam will become a knowledge hub.

Naidu’s son and state IT minister Nara Lokesh, who attended the programme, said that blockchain is a new era of “disruptive technology”, and has now become normal. Lokesh said Andhra Pradesh will go beyond pilot projects that have been taken up by his government pertaining to the IT sector. “We are the first state to use blockchain pilots,” he added. At the two-day event, Naidu also launched a blockchain hiring portal and a blockchain report by Wipro Ltd.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.