VIJAYAWADA: The fifth round of Grand Prix F1H2O Power Boat Racing World Championship was inaugurated by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu at Amaravati on Friday. This is the 35th edition of F1H2O world championship and it is taking place in Krishna river at Vijayawada.
After flagging off the trial round of the race, the Chief Minister also inaugurated the two-day Industrial Meet, which will provide a platform to investors on various opportunities in the State. “Opportunities abound in Andhra Pradesh and tourism is an integral sector for investments. Our aim is to attract tourists from across the world and events like these will help put Amaravati on the world map. It is a matter of pride that the world will see Amaravati because of F1H2O,” he said.
During the welcome address, Principal Secretary, Culture and Tourism, Mukesh Kumar Meena said, “This is an opportunity to build the brand name of Amaravati internationally. Programmes have been scheduled to take place on all three days. A two-day summit will see investors’ meets in the morning sessions and in the afternoon, the qualifying round for F1H2O will take place, followed by Amaravati Global Music and Dance Festival.” Tourism Development Corporation CEO Himanshu Shukla said, “It was due to the CM’s encouragement and support that the dream to host such a contest came true.”
IT Minister Nara Lokesh, Deputy CM Chinna Rajappa, Tourism Minister Bhuma Akhila Priya, Water Resources Minister Umamaheshwar Rao, Civil Supplies Minister P Pullarao and Deputy Speaker of Legislative Assembly Buddha Prasad were also present at the ceremony.
Prakasam Barrage renamed
Speaking at the ceremony, CM Naidu rechristened Prakasam Barrage ‘NTR Sagar’. After arriving at the paddock set up near Punnami Ghat, he interacted with the teams and met Jonas Andersson and Erik Edin, lead drivers of Team Amaravati. During the press briefing, he thanked Nicolo Di San Germano, promoter of F1H2O, for bringing the spirit of water sporting to India. He expressed his desire to boost tourism in the State