In 2015 Chandrababu Naidu was interviewed by Chinese journalist Tang Lu in Mumbai on the eve of his visit to China as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. In the interview, published in Reference News, Naidu talks a lot about his vision for the development of Andhra Pradesh, though due to various factors he was not able to fulfill his vision as much as he would have liked to. In 2024 Naidu was re-elected as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and he is still very ambitious about how to develop the state.
Here are excerpts from the interview to Tang Lu:
Chandrababu Naidu had been the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh since 1995. According to Naidu’s own explanation, he was not very tech-savvy, but he was convinced that information technology would be able to change India. With his vision and dedication to information technology, Naidu built Hyderabad into the ‘Silicon Valley of India’, on a par with Bangalore. At the time, the young Naidu was hailed by many as India’s first ‘CEO Chief Minister’. 2004 Naidu lost the election, and in 2014, after a decade of silence, Naidu rose again and was re-elected as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. By this time, however, Andhra Pradesh had been split in two, with Hyderabad becoming the capital of the newly formed state of Telangana and the new capital of Andhra Pradesh to be located in the ancient Buddhist city of Amravati, near the west coast. On the eve of Naidu’s visit to China with a high-level delegation from Andhra Pradesh, he gave an exclusive interview to Xinhua.
1Q: You proposed the development of information technology at such an early stage, I guess you must be an information technology person, what is the main communication tool you are using now?
A: Oh, I use a Samsung mobile phone, and here there is an Apple iPad, but honestly I’m not too proficient in technology, I’m good at management technology.
2. Can you tell us specifically how you developed Hyderabad into an information technology hub?
More than 30 years ago many people didn’t even know what IT was, but I foresaw the importance of IT. We introduced IT, we experimented with IT, we explained IT, we used IT. in 1995 when I started as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, there were quite a few computers in India, but they were not widely used and many of them were not connected to the internet. I was meeting Bill Gates in Delhi and in a speech I gave him my views on the future of IT and its trends in India. My views impressed Gates and it was the first time he had heard an Indian politician talk about information technology. Gates later set up Microsoft’s first R&D centre in India in Hyderabad. As a result of the good foundation we laid back then, Hyderabad has not only become India’s information technology centre, but also a city with one of the best infrastructural conditions in India. Today almost all the world’s leading information technology companies have a base in Hyderabad.
3 You have been tracking the trend of information technology, how do you evaluate the current difference between China and India in terms of information technology? Many people believe that India is better than China in IT development, at least in software development, but perhaps China is better in the use of IT?
A: I also agree with this statement. The disadvantage of the Chinese in developing IT is language, and English and maths are important factors that have enabled India to take the lead in IT, and have given us access to a lot of people who are competent in IT development. But the Chinese are also starting to learn English, developing their hardware and trying to learn to use software technology. The Chinese have an amazing ability to learn. That’s why I think India is strong in information technology and in information technology talent, and China is better at information technology use. Now that India is also trying to improve its ability to use IT, I am confident that although we may not be able to catch up with China anytime soon, it would be good to have some competition, which would be good for both sides.
4Q: You went to China in 2001, what was your deepest impression of China then? What is the biggest expectation of this visit to China?
China started its economic reforms in 1978, and India’s economic opening started in 1991. I particularly appreciate China’s development in terms of infrastructure, you have so many good ports, airports and road facilities. At the moment India is also starting to move and I would like to understand how India should make changes. I very much believe that it is time for China and India, the two largest countries in the world, to focus on each other. Because both countries are large in terms of population, land area and market size, and both economies are growing rapidly, both need to promote prosperity and both need to get to know each other. On this visit to China I am very keen to learn and also to witness first hand exactly how China is doing all this. However, one big difference between China and India is that the Communist Party of China can plan for the long term for China’s development, but not India, we cannot have that long term foresight, for example, as Chief Minister I myself can only plan for five years because we hold elections once every five years.
5Q: What is the most important thing you want to tell Chinese investors on this visit?
Andhra Pradesh is a virgin land because it is considered a new state and it has the second longest coastline in India. Andhra Pradesh is the gateway to southern India. We are rich in human resources, we are rich in water resources and apart from having information technology, we also have knowledge and Andhra Pradeshis are the most educated and knowledgeable people in the whole of India. I believe that if the Chinese come to Andhra Pradesh for investment and co-operation, it will definitely be a win-win situation.
6Q: In the past, I felt that China-India exchanges were basically between the central governments of the two countries, but in the past two years, it seems that two or three heads of local governments visit each other every year, how do you think about the exchanges and co-operation between the local governments of China and India?
The central governments of China and India need to take various measures to widely promote friendly relations between the countries. However, economic activities are mainly carried out in the states (provinces), so the role of local governments is becoming more and more important. At present, Chinese provinces as well as Indian states are taking various measures for development. Local governments in China need to attract foreign investment, as do local governments in India. It is a very good sign that Indian Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping have established good relations. Good political relations will definitely promote more economic cooperation at the local level between the two countries.
7Q: With the recent spate of sister cities between India and China, does Andhra Pradesh also have plans for co-operation with any Chinese province?
I am thinking about this matter. Andhra Pradesh has asked the Indian Ambassador in China to help us find similar provinces or cities in China. To develop India-China relations, I think it should be city-to-city first and then inter-provincial.
8. I noticed that you came back from your visit to China in 2001 and told Indian industrialists and politicians to learn from China to invest in infrastructure and simplify various investment procedures. I think what you suggested then fits well with many of the current policy priorities of the Modi government.
A: We have to strike a balance between development and economic welfare. If the balance can be achieved, then the favourable conditions gained are long term. Infrastructure is a very important thing for development, and if it is possible to develop it is possible to get revenues, and with government revenues they can be re-directed to improve the lives of the people. It’s a cycle. Ten years ago, I proposed to convert the national highway from Hyderabad to Vijayawada from four lanes to six lanes to meet international standards, and then other parts of India started to follow suit in creating such six-lane roads. Now we are doing different kinds of infrastructure development, roads, ports, railways, and Prime Minister Modi is the one who is pushing for these projects, he has led Gujarat in building infrastructure, and now he wants to make it happen in the whole of India. I am still very confident of achieving this goal.
9. China’s economic growth model basically relies on cheap labour, developing its own manufacturing industry and relying on foreign exports to create, and now the Modi government has also put forward ‘Make in India’, hoping to create more jobs. How do you evaluate Prime Minister Modi’s policy?
A: China has high technology and the labour force needed for development. But now China’s labour costs are getting higher and higher, and cheap labour has become a developmental advantage for India. However, India has to make that labour more skilled, and it is best if you have labour and you can get them all modernised. India is currently moving in that direction. I think that Prime Minister Modi has very aptly put forward the goals of ‘Make in India’ and ‘skilled development’.
. . 10. What are your plans for the future development of Andhra Pradesh’s new capital, Amaravati? A: It will take some time to open up the new city and I hope to start formalising it in the next five years. A Singaporean company has been commissioned to be the master blueprint planner for the development programme of the new capital and the surrounding areas. We welcome companies from all over the world to participate in the future investment and construction of Amaravati. Amaravati was once home to many Buddhists, most notably the ‘Great Stupa’. So there is a cultural link with China and we can build a China Town there and Chinese investors are very welcome to participate in the construction of our new town.
11. You used to be a software revolutionist, but now you say that ‘India needs not only software but also hardware manufacturing’, does this mean that you have changed your hope to become a hardware revolutionist?
A: Yes, at that time I was a software revolutionary, I was strongly in favour of software and software engineers, and later on we have been able to start developing software and software engineering in large numbers. But now India needs to import a lot of hardware, so I want to make my own hardware, and a lot of the companies that are settling in Andhra Pradesh now are manufacturing companies, and I want to make Andhra Pradesh a hardware manufacturing centre in the future.
. . . 12.As far as I know, you were probably the first Indian Chief Minister to be hailed as a CEO by many Indian as well as international media, how do you now feel about that designation that people gave you at that time?
Whenever you focus on economic matters, some people refer to you as a CEO, but my view is that whatever you do has to be done by a vision and at the same time be able to balance, balance short, medium and long term growth, balance the tension between development and economic welfare.
. . . 13. You mentioned ‘vision’ a number of times in your talk, so you could be called a ‘visionary’ Chief Minister?
Everything has to be done with vision, but it also has to be done with action. Right now I am working on the Vision 2020 document for Andhra Pradesh and there are many specific tasks that we have to do to realise these visions. #
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