VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu strongly backed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to strengthen forex reserves.
Speaking at the CII Annual Business Summit in Delhi on Monday, Naidu supported Modi’s call to strengthen India’s foreign exchange reserves and urged everyone to follow it as a mission.
He said the current geopolitical situation is a reminder for the country to focus on self-reliance and resource conservation. Referring to the national mission outlined by the Prime Minister in Hyderabad on Sunday, the Chief Minister highlighted several key measures suggested to tackle emerging global challenges.
Resharing Modi’s appeal, he said the Prime Minister had called for postponing gold purchases, promoting energy conservation, encouraging the use of public transport, adopting a work-from-home culture, reducing fertiliser consumption, and moving towards natural farming. Naidu stressed that these measures are essential in the present global scenario marked by fuel and energy crises caused by international conflicts.
Recalling his tenure as Chief Minister in the late 1990s, Naidu said he had introduced power sector reforms between 1998 and 1999 and achieved significant results in electricity generation and supply. However, he noted that the reforms were politically costly and contributed to his electoral defeat in 2004, as people at the time did not fully accept the changes.
Emphasising energy security, Naidu urged industries to generate their own power within factory premises.
Naidu calls for self-reliance in farming amid global crises
The Chief Minister said every household, agricultural pump set, factory and commercial complex should focus on power generation to reduce dependence on external energy sources.
He also pointed to rising problems related to LPG, petrol and diesel prices, saying countries that are not directly involved in wars are still suffering the consequences. In this context, he said work-from-home has become a practical solution, as technology now allows people to work efficiently from anywhere.
He advocated greater self-reliance in agriculture by reducing fertiliser usage and promoting natural farming, stating that it would benefit both foreign exchange reserves and public health.
Addressing industrialists, especially the giants of the business community present at the summit, Naidu appealed to them to treat these reforms and conservation measures as a national mission rather than solely the responsibility of the PM. Chandrababu Naidu has expressed confidence that every crisis creates new opportunities in future.
