VIJAYAWADA: Tata Sons Board Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran has evinced interest in investing in the transportation sector, particularly the electric cars and buses, to be operated by the government in the capital city of Amaravati.
“We are also interested in bringing investments in education, skill development, hotels and other sectors,” he said at a meeting with Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu in Singapore on Friday.
Stating that Tata Group can also help in building smart cities, Chandrasekharan said the company is keen on having its presence in Amaravati by investing in electric cars and buses for the new capital.
He assured the Chief Minister of visiting Amaravati in the next three weeks for discussions on investments in hospitality, smart city development, convention centres and transportation.
Naidu meets Tony Blair
Naidu, who was in Singapore on a day’s visit to attend the Leadership Summit, met former British prime minister Tony Blair. Blair fondly recalled their previous meeting during his visit to Hyderabad and a village in Mahbubnagar and enquired about the progress in the new State. “I heard you are building it from the scratch”, he said, inquisitive about the process and the government’s initiatives.
The Chief Minister explained the Visions 2022, 2029 and 2050. He spoke about the Real Time Governance System, the Comprehensive Financial Management System implemented by SAP and the power sector reforms using solar and wind energy plants.
Blair said that his organisation (Tony Blair Institute for Global Change) focuses on sharing the best practises in governance across the world, and is keen to make its footprint in AP.
Stating that his organisation is already working with 200 schools in India where it has a camp office, Blair said that it can collaborate with the government of Andhra Pradesh and promised to send a team to the State.
As part of his day-long visit to Singapore, Naidu appealed to the businessmen to visit and invest in AP and enjoy the vibrant culture India.
No interest in national politics: Naidu
Asked if the Centre is biased against the Southern States, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said ‘‘It is not the right platform to discuss such issues.’’
In the same breath, Naidu made it clear that those States ,which are witnessing development, should not be punished as it will only have a negative impact on the development of the nation.
The Chief Minister reiterated that he has no interest in national politics.
“At present, my goal is to develop Andhra Pradesh as a model State in India,” he said emphatically.