Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Tuesday made a forceful plea to the industrialists to make Hyderabad their base for further expansion of their business.
Speaking at the Annual General Meeting and National Conference of the CII on “Getting Growth Back: Government – Industry Partnership”, the Chief Minister elaborated on the pro-industry atmosphere in the State and said industry captains were welcome to set shop there.
Assuring them of the ‘fullest cooperation and a very conducive atmosphere” he said without the support of the industry no growth was possible in the country. Pitching for the industry he said policy changes should not be adverse to the industrial development as it would wipe away investments yielding no result at all. Arguing that “continuity and consistency” were the hallmarks of good policies, he said the industry must also guide the governments on the utility front of the educational skills. A wrong emphasis on the skills to be acquired or a wrong placement of one’s energies and time would not lead to any quality addition to the development he said recalling his earlier interactions with youngsters of certain professions.
Emphasizing that education should not become centric to a particular course but centric to imparting specialized skills that help the youth as well the nation, Kiran Kumar Reddy said a holistic knowledge imparting must become the goal. If education was not inclusive for all sections and development does not reach the poor, all the GDP figures and developmental statistics had no meaning to the people though they may be to the delight of economists.
Pointing out that the Andhra Pradesh Government was imparting specialist skills imparting programme to about five lakh youth every year thanks to the Industry help, he said such innovative programmes should continue without a break.
Claiming that development in core areas like roads, power and infrastructure were essential, the Chief Minister said it was unfortunate that despite shortage of power in the country, so much of potential power had remained utilized due to shortage of gas. Preferring cheaper power for development, he said Andhra Pradesh was providing power at a lower rate than others in the country for the industry.
The Chief Minister said Rs.6.5 lakh worth MoUs had earlier been signed by the AP Government and he was happy that such interaction would be to the benefit of the country. Pointing out that AP had bagged a mega-manufacturing hub that would come up soon, he said it only showed the number of opportunities in the state.
Kiran Kumar Reddy spoke about how technology and IT have changed the face of the country in the past. However segments like rural health should improve vastly further. Capacity building and value addition must be kept as primary goals in every segment.
Planning Commission member Arun Mehra, Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda also spoke. Bharti Enterprises vice-chairman Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Shell India chairman Vikram Singh Mehta, CII vice-president S Gopalakrishnan were also present. (INN)