VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has said that future is going to change in developing countries with the emerging clean and renewable energy trends. “In AP, we were procuring power at `5 per unit. The price came down to Rs 2.75 per unit with the help of energy generation through solar power. Usage of electric vehicles is another step taken by us. As on today, 20% of the power generated in AP is from renewable sources. We are reducing our dependence on thermal and nuclear energies,’’ Naidu said.
As part of his visit to Singapore on Monday, the Chief Minister participated in a panel discussion on ‘Urbanisation-Water, Environment and Transport Management’. He said power storage is one of the challenges that AP faces. The government will develop smart power grids which will automatically decrease the transmission losses.
Asserting that the government working towards building sustainable and green buildings in the new capital, he said Amaravati will be a new generation capital, which will be a blend of technology, innovation and culture. “Ultimately, we want to make it the happiest city and one among the top five cities in the world,” he said.
“In AP, we have been successful in solid waste management and methods of liquid waste management are what we want to explore now. For this, ‘waste to wealth’ is our motto. We look forward to conserve this limited resource through recycling like Singapore. Protecting the nature is another priority of AP government by using clean energy like solar and wind power. Switching to electric transportation can help us in controlling pollution to some extent,” he added.
Later, during a meeting with industrialists in Lee Kuan Yew (LKY), an MoU was signed between Asia Competitiveness Institute - Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and the Government of AP to increase cooperation in research and training.
Naidu was the keynote speaker at the programme held in the LKY Institute. He spoke about investment opportunities in AP. Stating that AP is attracting a lot of FDI and is number one in the country in ease of doing business.
The CM interacted with the Indian industrialists at the AP-Singapore Industry Business Round Table meeting. The meeting was also attended by Singapore’s National Development Minister Desmond Lee and Indian Ambassador to Singapore, Jawed Ashraf, along with All Industries Associations of Singapore.
Speaking on the AP- Singapore collaboration, Minister Desmond Lee said, “Both Amaravati and AP provide a great scope for the Singapore industries and particularly the housing industries, which also deal with material manufacturing.” “There is a great scope for greenfield construction in not just Amaravati but the rest of AP as well. Facility management is another area which offers great business opportunities in AP,” he added.
Naidu thanked Desmond Lee for organising this interaction with builders, developers and manufacturers. “We are developing qualitative manpower and making sure that AP is well equipped with all kinds of infrastructure. Singapore has been a great ally to AP and people here possess high levels of integrity and work ethics.”Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, Municipal Minister P Narayana and other officials accompanied Naidu.