http://autofeed.msn.co.in/pandoraV2/out ... E194BC.aspIndian Inc.remembers Naidu as CEO
Source : NDTV. Image Source: NDTV
New Delhi, May 11: The electorate in Andhra Pradesh may have voted Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu out of power, but India Inc. remembers him as the chief executive who put the state on the global map of knowledge industry hubs.
Be it at the Alpine settings of Davos at World Economic Forum meetings, or back home in Hyderabad hosting leaders like then US President Bill Clinton and Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, Naidu's style was not that of a quintessential politician.
His speeches and observations were almost always accompanied by PowerPoint presentations from his laptop and he was perhaps the first chief minister to use the virtues of technology for day-to-day governance and development.
Naidu also endeared himself to the global tech industry and the result: Some of the top corporations like Microsoft, Oracle, Dell, Computer Associates, Google and Convergys have a presence in Hyderabad, often called 'Cyberabad.'
"He has been a terrific reformer," said S.K. Birla, noted industrialist and former president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
"The mandate against his Telugu Desam Party is a result of the anti-incumbency factor. It is certainly not a mandate against his policies," Birla told IANS.
Others agreed. They said it was one thing making Hyderabad a hub for India's vibrant knowledge- based industries and getting accolades from far and wide and another to win the hearts of the electorate that go beyond cities and towns.
"Since 1998, in 25 out of 29 state elections the incumbent government has been voted out of power," said Prem Shamkar Jha, senior journalist and commentator.
While promotion of the IT industry was one of the most visible sides of Naidu's tenure as chief minister, there were other aspects as well which Industry acknowledges.
"TDP's loss is a great pity. The support to information technology given by Naidu is the least of the issues," said Saurabh Srivastava, president of the Delhi chapter of The IndUS Entrepreneurs.
"The current government has done a great amount of good and is a role model for other states in the infrastructure created and the e-governance introduced," he said. "It is obvious that some other important areas were neglected."
FICCI secretary general Amit Mitra said another reason for Naidu's defeat was the lack of domestic and overseas investments in the state in areas like agro-processing and chemicals.
"There is a lot of water in Rayalaseema and there could have been an agro-processing revolution there. Similarly, in coastal areas, there could have been clusters of small and medium enterprises in chemicals," he said.
"These sectors could also have become the state's core competence areas, triggering overall development and fetching jobs," he added.
Naidu, in fact, had hired international consultants like Ernst and Young, KPMG, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and AF Ferguson to suggest ways to attract all round investment. But the strategy did not materialise.
Tarun Das, director general of the Confederation of Indian Industry, said it was Naidu's misfortune that towards the end of his present tenure, the global economy turned weak and there were no investments in the old economy sectors.
"Naidu was responsible for a lot of investment in the services sector and especially information technology. The new Congress party government will be in a better position to attract investments in manufacturing," he said.
Echoing similar sentiments, Kiran Karnik, president of the National Association of Software and Service Companies, said Naidu had done an excellent job of developing Andhra Pradesh as an attractive IT destination.
"But we do not foresee any adverse impact on the IT industry."
