N. Chandrababu Naidu

Naidu became a Congress (I) member of the Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly (MLA) for Chandragiri constituency in 1978. The party's 20% quota for youth to run for the office was beneficial for him. Not long afterwards, Naidu was appointed as the technical education and cinematography minister in T. Anjaiah's government at the age of 28. He was the youngest minister in the Congress (I) cabinet.[19]

As the cinematography minister, Naidu came in contact with N. T. Rama Rao, a popular film star in Telugu cinema. In 1980, he married Bhuvaneswari, Rao's second daughter[20]

Naidu showed his political skills in August 1984, when Nadendla Bhaskara Rao staged a coup against N. T. Rama Rao. He rallied the TDP MLAs together and paraded them before the President of India. N. T. Rama Rao was reinstated as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh 31 days later. Impressed with his son-in-law's manoeuvre, Rao appointed Naidu as the General Secretary of the party and he began playing an important role in the TDP after Nadendla Rao's coup attempt. Later, when N. T. Rama Rao married Lakshmi Parvathi, Naidu took over the TDP legislative party predicting the problems in the party and became the Chief Minister of united Andhra Pradesh.[21]

In the 1989 assembly election, Naidu contested from Kuppam and won by 5,000 votes.[22] INC, however, had regained power in the election so Naidu had to sit in the opposition. He served as a coordinator of the TDP, in which capacity he effectively handled the party's role of the main opposition in the assembly which won him wide appreciation from both the party and the public. Naidu's role during this phase, both inside the Legislative Assembly and outside, was a critical factor for the subsequent success of the party at the hustings.[22]

On 1 September 1995, Naidu came to power as the Chief Minister by revolting against N.T. Rama Rao.[23] In the last interview, with Reuters, N. T. Rama Rao compared himself to Shah Jahan, a 17th-century Mughal emperor who was imprisoned by his son, and predicted that he would gain his revenge against what he called "the backstabbers" in his family, especially his son-in-law and successor, Naidu.[24]

Naidu speaking with workers in a textile factory

After taking charge as the Chief Minister for the first time, Naidu focused on rural development and poverty eradication through involving people in sustainable development process and triggering new innovative reforms in the administration.[25]

Prajalato Mukhyamantri (Chief Minister with People) Phone is a programme that encourages open dialogue between the chief minister and the common people of Andhra Pradesh state. There is a live broadcast every Monday, on both Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR) where Naidu interacts with the callers directly to know their issues and address them. The live show is conducted in two sessions: in the first session, there is a discussion with vice-chancellors, academicians, and writers and in the second session, there is interaction with the people. Naidu was described as "a leader, who mingled with the masses after shedding his official status and time as Chief Minister." The innovative program found acceptance in the country's information and broadcasting systems.[30]

Rythu Bazaar was launched by Naidu on 26 January 1999 with the objective to control the skyrocketing prices of fruits and vegetables. Under this program, farmers were encouraged to sell their produce directly to the consumers and in the process, eliminate the middleman. In the first phase itself, the program succeeded and reached various towns. Prices were down by 70 to 75 percent, and it benefited both the farmers and the direct consumers.[31]

Naidu actively conducted surprise inspections of the State departments. It provided him first-hand knowledge of the functioning of various departments and have direct interaction with the members of the public about the in-house facilities and availability of government staff, doctors, teachers, and other public services. If any anomalies were noticed, the related authority had to file an Action Taken Report that was actively followed-up. The element of surprise motivated the departments concerned to constantly strive for excellence.[32]

As second time winning chief minister the Naidu government showed interest in revenue generation possibilities by shifting focus to industrialisation with public–private sector partnerships, foreign investments policy in the state, and digitising government services and records. All the panchayat offices were equipped with Internet and computers completely branded as smart governance. Focus was given to the employment generation with the development of information technology and the pharmaceutical industry.[37]

With the intention of bringing e-governance to the citizens, Naidu launched e-Seva centers in 2001 for paperless and speedy delivery of results to applicants. These e-Seva centers were one-stop solutions providing all government information and services online such as utility bills, banking services, issuing birth and death certificates, written test for drivers licence, government orders, and APSRTC tours and travel operators booking.[39] The government introduced an outsourcing employee system where government related services are done under a contract agreement and after a certain time, they are declared as permanent government employees.[40]

In the year 2000, the Naidu government, under the Neeru-Meeru (Water and You) programme, started gully sunken pits (or) Inki Guntalu, for harvesting rainwater in farm fields that were built with a low cost of Rs 500 to Rs 800. The water conversion mission allow deeper percolation of water, with the twin purposes of checking erosion control in gullies and of increasing ground water reservoir.[41]

As chief minister Naidu impressed the World Bank and looking at his long-term strategic policies allotted a loan of Rs 2,200 Cr under the Economic Restructuring Programme (APERP). Andhra Pradesh is the first state in the world to independently obtain a loan from the World Bank at the state level, without national government interference. The purpose of the loan is to transform the state is to put efforts in transformation through reforms and performance in education, Decentralization of power, facilitating civil society to improve as good governance and world bank condition is to bring reforms of sustainable development of high growth in which problems like poverty and unemployment can be solved and quality of life improved but instead of distributing welfare schemes to the public. But the oppositions Congress and the CPI criticised the World Bank loan as being pro-rich and for creating huge debt on the state.[42]

In way of investments and attractive incentives, the Naidu Government won the honour of best tourism performing state with about 24% in all national tourist arrivals, record international aircraft movements, and occupancy raised by 100% in the same year. This lead to employment generation direct and indirectly for 37.7 lakhs people raised by 12% in the hotel and hospitality industry, food and beverage services, recreation and entertainment, cabs and transportation, travel trade and booking services and bagged 6 tourism awards for excellence out of 14 categories at the national level.[43][44]

In 1992-94, the Andhra Pradesh State Electricity Board (APSEB) had an operating deficit and a decline in financial position because of adverse change in Hydro-thermal mix and higher growth in consumption of electricity by agriculture and domestic consumers compared to industries. The government promoted private finances in the power sector to bring efficient conditions in terms of cost and quality to support the economic development of the state and to reach world class levels in 3 to 5 years. This privatisation of power sector increased the states' power tariff rate and opposition parties made several heated protests with political demonstrations, but Naidu has managed to ride out this storm, and remained in control of the party and state while remaining committed to the reform program.[45]

For attracting global investments, a world class airport was required for Hyderabad city. Naidu called for a global tender under a public–private partnership for Shamshabad Greenfield international airport with a 5,495 acres of land already acquired by his government and in possession. Then after Naidu assigned the bid to the consortium Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao (GMR Group) and Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad in December 2002. The next successive Congress government of Andhra Pradesh, after the airport's completion, named it 'GMR Group - Rajiv Gandhi Hyderabad International Airport'.[46]

In 2000, both Bill Clinton (President of the United States ) and Tony Blair (Prime Minister of the United Kingdom) visited Hyderabad and met with Naidu.[47] Bobby Ghosh of the American news magazine, Time commented, "In just five years, he has turned an impoverished, rural backwater place into India's new information-technology hub",[48] and the magazine named Naidu, 'South Asian of the Year'.[49]

In 2000, Naidu Government declared a special development area, surrounding the Hussain Sagar Lake with covering the area of 900 hectares (SDA) was formed for the purposes of tourism, eco-tourism, and theme park development. This special purpose authority has been named as Buddha Purnima Project Authority (BPPA). The Authority under urban landscape development has identified seven major tourism development pockets for beautification and enhancement around the Hussain Sagar Lake. These selections of development included such projects as the creation of NTR Memorial and Gardens, Lumbini Park, Laserium a laser show project, Necklace Road, Peoples Plaza have become star attractions of the twin cities for both local and nonlocal tourists.[61]

Hitex venue entrance road to Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC) built by the Naidu Government as a convention hub in 2003, a similar look like a representation of Charminar [62]

While the process of restructuring the metropolitan boundaries was underway, re-configuration and delimitation of space for special purposes was also taking place. Following Vision 2020 policy suggestions, his government prioritised the development of high-tech enclaves in Hyderabad as a way to spark IT-driven growth. In 2001, the Naidu Government declared the creation of Cyberabad Development Authority (CDA) as a special enclave for the location of IT firms; research institutions and allied services around the existing ‘HITEC City’ area in Hyderabad. In conjunction with the name Hyderabad, this new cyber enclave has been named ‘Cyberabad’. The CDA covers an area of 52 km2 in the western periphery of the city covering townships of Madhapur, Gachibowli, Kondapur, Manikonda, and Nanakramguda with also having a separate cyberabad metropolitan police commissionerate and the CDA was conceived as a self-contained enclave providing premium infrastructures, such as gated residential housing, intelligent buildings, shopping malls, and transport facilities among others. The master plan of the CDA was characterised by mixed land-use with more than 25% of the total land area for residential purposes and more than 32% for software industries. Along with residential and software industries, the CDA includes Indian School of Business, University of Hyderabad, the Indian Institute of Information Technology, a sports complex and a golf course. The creation of the CDA paved the way for the development of special enclaves meant for special purposes. Further, to provide global connectivity to the elite digeratis, a premium expressway was built to connect Cyberabad with the newly built international airport[63]

To achieve the desired growth trajectory and to leapfrog toward an information society, the state required heavy investment in premium Infrastructure for global connectivity. Therefore, in 1996, the Naidu Government initiated the construction of a new greenfield international airport at Shamshabad, 21 km southwest of Hyderabad’s city centre.[64] To promote the planned development of the area around the international airport, the Naidu Government declared a special development area and called it as Hyderabad Airport Development Authority (HADA). HADA covers around 458 km2 in the south-western periphery of the Metropolitan. The master plan of HADA prepared in 2003 covering 458 square kilometres for the promotion of an International Airport surrounding with ancillary economic activities such as a cargo hub, aviation engineering hub, free trade zone, luxury hotels, residential apartments, and other additional services to make the enclave a growth centre. The region is being connected to the core of the city by radial roads and by an expressway link to Cyberabad. A Hyderabad Metro train link has also been proposed and the construction is underway. As part of the first phase of development, the international airport has been completed and inaugurated in March 2008 along with a luxury hotel. The second phase of development includes Cargo complexes and industrial zones.[65]

Falaknuma - Hyderabad First Multi-Modal Transport System(MMTS) in India Launched by Naidu Govt and SCR as Joint project at Secunderabad Junction in 2003[66]

In 2003 MMTS was first started in India under Naidu Government and Andhra Pradesh now Telangana is the first state to have a multi-modal transport system (MMTS), integrating the railway infrastructure with road network in hyderabad. The first phase was flagged off with the first MMTS train at Secunderabad railway station by the Deputy Prime Minister L. K. Advani [67] and second phase of MMTS was inaugurated by Naidu[68][69] while six-coach local trains to run from Secunderabad-Lingampalli and Hyderabad-Lingampalli for 29 km and Secunderabad- Falaknuma section (15 km) was also brought under the network. As a joint project between Andhra Pradesh state and Indian railways for development of urban rail services covering 43 kms and 26 stations.spreading support for people who had to Commuter rail daily for work.

Naidu quickly attracted potential investors with IT and Biotechnology policy, a 600 square-kilometer enclave like "Geome valley" the 30 kilometres north of the Hyderabad but the initiatives has not sufficient and Naidu put substantial effort to upgrade the city's transport network already suffering rising congestion and travel delays under the impact of rapidly increasing ownership of car and motor-cycles with 10% per annum. After MMTS, a much larger prestigious railway initiative was taken by Naidu Government to develop a metro to serve the city as a whole, beginning with the center and a few main access corridors where the Hyderabad Metro rail project has come into existence and first steps for the project has come in the same year 2003 where the Hyderabad Multi-Modal Transport System local trains were launched and in 2003 the Union Ministry of Urban Development approved nod for the construction of Hyderabad Metro Rail Project, directing the DMRC to conduct a survey of the proposed lines and to send DPR,[70] while this mega project has been delayed for a decade by the successive Congress governments with the cancellation of bids and land acquisition and finally the construction begin in May 2012 with L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Ltd has completed the proposed metro project lines in the year 2020.[71]

In his tenure by end of the financial year 2003–04 software exports from Hyderabad reached $1 billion.[72] and the state rises up from deficit revenue state to surplus revenue state in annual budget and it becomes the fourth-largest exporting city in India. By 2013–14 exports had grown by more than ten times,[73] employing about 320,000 people directly working in this IT & ITES fields in Hyderabad alone.

Naidu during the launch of the Eruvaka Punnami farmer festival at Chittavaram village

During this tenure as third time Chief Minister, the government of Andhra Pradesh gave priority to both Welfare and Development, and received a total of 635 awards at the national level,[90][91] while the main targets in completion of minor and major irrigation projects, building Amaravati as the new capital city, and making Visakhapatnam City as Fintech capital, Rayalaseema Four districts as the manufacturing hub, and moreover providing 24 Hours Power Supply to industrial purposes and residential homes, Ease of doing Business first in state, youth skills development and implementing agriculture best policies like Zero Budget Natural Farming.[92]

For the first time in India, under Naidu's government in Andhra Pradesh, transgender persons were issued driving licences. The Transport Department placed an additional column for the 'third sex' in the online driving licence application form. Thirty-two transgender people were issued Learner Licence Registration (LLR) certificates at a Legal Services awareness programme held in Kadapa District. The Naidu cabinet has a transgender policy where they will be provided skill development for financial stability, which also includes loans from banks to setup small business and eligibility for ration cards, plots, and scholarships. A pension of Rs 3000 per month has already been made available to transgenders by the government under the pension scheme.[106]

Bike Ambulances were launched by Naidu government [107] to make medical care accessible to the remotest parts of the State where these vehicles transport patients who require emergency care from the interiors of the forest to roads, especially in areas inaccessible by regular ambulances.[108] This has been a boon in the Tribal Areas where the access by road is limited.[109][110]

Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Scheme is the pet project of Andhra Pradesh CM Naidu because of his stubborn in building it while the opposition parties and some intellectuals make several allegations on Pattiseema project as a waste of public money[124] and after completion where it pumps and lifts the 100 TMC water at Godavari river and divert the water towards the Krishna river to target the Krishna delta agriculture lands with serving the 13 lakh acres and the construction has been completed in one year of time which registered at Limca Book of Records.[125]

The Polavaram National Project is a mega project with a lengthy construction period and a large budget at West Godavari district. Naidu said Polavaram project is a LifeLine of Andhra Pradesh state and his life's mission is to complete it. [126] while Naidu inaugurated the pylon on 11 June 2018 for the completion of diaphragm wall and the first crest gate was erected between 40 and 41 pillars[127] on Polavaram Dam at 24 December 2018 and 70% of the irrigation works was completed as on May 2019 [128]

Naidu gave a presentation at the 'Future Decoded' event in Mumbai in 2017, organised by Microsoft Inc.[143] Naidu said that his goal was to make the Sunrise Andhra Pradesh state one of the top three in India by development by 2022, and to be number one by 2029 and by 2050, Andhra Pradesh should be the best destination for investments, not only with Economic indicators but with the Happiness Index. Naidu explained how the 62,000 police officers of Andhra Pradesh were connected via Kaizala, a secure messaging and work management application, and about how Andhra Pradesh is a "cloud-first state" in India utilising technology and integrated with Andhra Pradesh government across various 22 departments and 100k+ users that stay connected and informed with related authorities in collaboration of government work which was being used to generate real-time, on the ground data, and he added that it worked well on basic Android handsets, even on 2G network connections and Naidu says ideas like this make possible the system like real-time governance at ease.[144]

Naidu said that we are committed to create 14.4 million jobs and LinkedIn has shown the way and we will sign up right away and we move in that direction as he referred to Project Sangam[145] as with the Aadhaar advantage, made possible the finger is enough to transact anything from health, education, banking to any services and also mentioned about E-Pragati, APFibernet, Internet of Things (IoT) has deployed 10 lakh IoT devices to give real time data in the state. Officials can access a real-time dashboard to see the information of all 33 departments including rainfall and groundwater measurements.[144]

The Naidu Government launched a scale-out plan of Climate Resilient Zero Budget Natural Farming (CRZBNF) in 2018, with training provided to farmers through the Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (RySS), a not-for-profit organisation belongs to the government making Andhra Pradesh the first state to adopt natural farming in India while the plan is to make transition all the 6 million farms/farmers from the use of chemical fertilizers to Zero-Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) by 2024,[146] with considering of multiple objectives as every village will become a bio-village enhancing farmers welfare, consumer welfare and for the conservation of environment. “The success of climate-resilient, Zero Budget Natural Farming in Andhra Pradesh will not only help India in meeting its SDGs but it can also inspire and transform the lives of millions of farmers across the developing world,” said Naidu. He noted that the average lifespan in India was 65-69 years now, and it could shoot up to 85-90 years by consuming food grown through natural farming."ZBNF will help people live a healthy and happy life. It will also contribute to a clean environment," he said.

As Naidu declared if any farmers from the state would be rewarded with Rs 100 crore from the government of Andhra Pradesh [147] if they won Nobel prize in natural farming and AP farmers should become role models to the world in natural farming.[148][149]

Naidu delivered a keynote address at an event titled “Financing Sustainable Agriculture: Global Challenges and Opportunities”, organised on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly. Out of all the conferences and forums. Naidu addressing about ZBNF program at the United Nations conference has started his speech in Telugu language and said it has been the most proud and unforgettable experience of his life. Naidu said that the state government has been encouraging ZBNF to reduce costs and risks in farming, more and safe food with nutritious values, reverse migration to villages and enhance soil health to safeguard our collective future. He said microbial seed coating, bio inoculants, cover crops, mulching, soil aeration, and zero chemicals will promote living soil concept. He said a target was set to make villages as bio villages in five years period. The scale at which AP has implemented ZBNF has gathered massive praise and recognition internationally. ZBNF, its benefits must be shared with the global community for which leaders across nations must join hands in terms of knowledge-sharing, philanthropy, financing, and marketing. He said that the zero budget farming will help to reach sustainable development goals.[150][151]

As part of this, Naidu attended the Sustainable Development Impact Summit organised by the World Economic Forum and Bloomberg Global Business Forum held in New York, 2018. Naidu as Chief Minister, launched the findings of the project, “Accelerating Sustainable Production” in Andhra Pradesh and reiterated the state’s commitment to achieving most of the SDGs by 2022. The report highlighted the progress achieved under the SDG framework in its first two years and pointed out areas that demand extra attention. The previous year’s report about SDG's was also presented at the High-Level Political Forum, hosted at the United Nations headquarters, New York in July 2017.[152][153]

Naidu at World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has invited Naidu to participate in its meeting in Davos, Switzerland.[154] Five consecutive times Naidu received an invitation after he took charge as the Chief Minister of the bifurcated Andhra Pradesh. He was chosen as a special invitee for the summit by WEF President Klaus Schwab for a session on the “Future of Urban Development,” where he pitched about his vision for Andhra Pradesh and its goals.[155] and has also been invited by the Japanese delegation as the special guest for a session on “Vision for tomorrow, Japan Learning for structural challenges” as part of the “Japan Night” session. The Naidu government has taken up a unique initiative to project the state as an investment destination. The government had a special bus at the 2016 summit highlighting Andhra Pradesh as No.1 Destination for Corporate Investment.[156] The aim is to attract industrialists and investments from abroad to the new Andhra Pradesh after its bifurcation. The Summit has been useful for Andhra Pradesh as the state is in an advantageous position for fully utilising technologies. It is mainly concerted efforts to achieve the best results to touch double-digit growth.[157] Naidu held discussions with investors with the focus on sectors like Global Funds, Financing, IT, Infrastructure and Manufacturing. He also apprised them about the available opportunities, Human resources, etc for investing in Andhra Pradesh and the functioning of State Administration and discussed with experts about the sustainable agriculture sector, mechanisation, and farmers-Producers-Organisations. Naidu also reached to Zurich one day before Davos and hold one-to-one discussion with possible investors and moreover he speaks at "India and Emerging Markets in the new phase of globalization" at Boston Consulting Group-CII session and another session at "New Vision for Agriculture-Building and Strengthening Multi-Holder Partnerships.[158]

The CII organised the 22nd edition of CII Partnership Summit in 2016 with a partnership with the State Government of Andhra Pradesh, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and Ministry of Commerce and Industry at APIIC Ground, Harbour Park, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Chandrababu Naidu signed 331 memoranda of investment proposals worth Rs 4.78 lakh crore into Andhra Pradesh and suggested steps to promote exports. It is expected that these understandings produce more than 10 lakh jobs in the next five years in the state.[159] And in 2018 CII Summit approaching through innovative ways Naidu promote Sunrise Andhra Pradesh as the destination for business in India with attracting new investors as part of a summit with displaying the products that are manufactured in the State, including Kia cars, Foxconn cellphones, Apollo tyres, and others. “The exhibits have included everything that reflects the achievements, desires, and potential of the State.[160] Three Summits from 2016-2018 attracted delegates from 40 – 50 countries, witnessed cumulative participation of over 10,000 delegates, and served as the platform for execution of cumulative 1,437 MoUs with a committed investment of Rs 13.35 lakh crores (USD 200 billion) and committed employment of 24.60 lakhs (2.46 million).[161]

The new sports policy announced for the period 2017-22 by Naidu Government with a mission to groom sports talent and initiated a unique programme named ‘Project Gandiva’ that helps nurture the young talent by training them as competitive sportsmen. The project was formally launched on 24 July 2018 at Vidyadharapuram in Vijayawada by Naidu and said ‘Project Gandiva’ to revolutionise sports culture in the State and government will select students of age between 10-16 years from village to State level, and provide them with international level facilities, infrastructure, and coaching.[162] Project Gandiva will ensure that every talent in the State of Andhra Pradesh is identified, nurtured and trained by international coaches. We will see Olympians rise from this sunrise State,” the Naidu said. Project Gandiva is a long-term athletic development programme designed by the State. As part of the policy, the talented sports persons will be picked up and groomed to compete at national and international events with winning medals and bring laurels to the State. For 2018-19, a long-term athletic development scheme under the programme was launched. The objective is to ensure that AP excels in sports in a span of 10 years from now. The project envisages that by 2021, the State should become number one in national athletics and by next year, the State should secure medals in Asian and Commonwealth Games. By 2024, State should represent Olympics and by 2028 Olympics.[163] Naidu laid the foundation stone for the construction of ‘Amaravati International Sports Complex’ and the sports complex is designed to be built in 8.9 acres with a budget of Rs 60 crore and would feature world-class infrastructure with high-end equipment for sportsmen in Vidyadharapuram[164]

An approach with a people-first motto, the Naidu Government strives to provide an agile and efficient public service delivery system benefiting nearly 50 million citizens in a 360-degree life cycle approach through its Real Time Governance(RTG) initiative. With the help of RTG, Andhra Pradesh can now swiftly resolve citizen grievances and monitor infrastructure projects, Crime and incidents, weather and climatic events across the state in real time, leveraging technology services. Keeping technology in its mind and citizen centricity in its heart, Real Time Governance is set to revolutionise governance in Andhra Pradesh, catalysing government operations to create a safer, more efficient and sustainable society. The Real Time Governance model is the most powerful and intellectual initiative by the Naidu Government to make insightful decisions that vibrantly transform citizen services from pensions to street lights on/off time, that garnered global recognition and AP Real Time Governance facility has received Hitachi Transformation People’s Choice Award.[165] And RTG is able to analyse big data sets operates from State Command and Communication Centre housed in the Secretariat Complex at Amaravati gathered from various data input sources from CC cameras, drones, biometric augmented technology and virtual reality, machine learning technology, Internet of Things (IoT), etc, adopting the most advanced technology of international standards for governance[166]

Naidu with South Korea Children from Indian Cultural Centre at capital city Seoul on December 2017

In commitment of Ease Of Doing Business always been to provide the best business environment, the Andhra Pradesh state ranked at Number 1 in 2016[167] and retained its position for the second consecutive year in 2017, and ranked at position 2 in EODB after Gujarat in India in 2015.[168] The Naidu Government took up various initiatives towards this endeavour has created the most stable business environment in state that been built on consistency in policies, end-to-end technology initiatives, several business reforms, decentralisation and investor outreach. The 'Single Desk Portal' (SDP) launched in 2015 is an initiative taken up by the Naidu Government to establish a one stop portal for Government to Business (G2B) services offered across the business cycle, offers 69 services cutting across 19 departments and all approvals for setting up an industry in Andhra Pradesh are provided online within a maximum of 21-days. SDP has greatly improved service delivery to businesses. Physical visits to the departments are eliminated and timelines for service delivery are monitored through the Core dashboard by the Chief Minister’s office. To support the SDP, the Government released the Single Desk Policy, 2015, that provides the framework for monitoring the functioning of the online SDP system. Further, the Single Desk Bureau (SDB), headed by the Commissioner of Industries, was also set up to regularly monitor the functioning of SDP. All concerned departments have been made part of SDB to review the approval process on SDP. As of 21 December 2018, a total of 33,565 approvals have been provided, with service level compliance of 99.85%. Single Desk Portal was rated as a best practice by Government of India and World Bank in 2016.[169][170]

Naidu reviewing the damaged airport after Cyclone Hudhud massive destruction at Visakhapatnam in 2014

On 12 October 2014 Cyclone Hudhud struck the east coast of India near Visakhapatnam (Vizag) with wall and roof collapses and uprooting of trees on roads, which was pounded by rains and galeforce winds at 170/180 km ph of speed causing devastating effect and makes it even difficult to travel and conduct rescue operations to the Vishakhapatnam with railway lines being badly damaged and airport services affected . At the time Naidu alerted officials infront the Cyclone Hudhud threat and reviewed the preparedness of the state in Disaster Management[171] while Hands-on in Vizag, Naidu immediately shifted base from the capital of Hyderabad to the port town of Vizag to ensure his administration delivers [172] and worked from a Bus turned into the makeshift as War-Room, Office and Home[173] and directed the collectors and officials to set up relief camps and to evacuate people especially the tribals the first thing to do is minimise casualties from areas confirmed that have cyclone threat and make sure ready with stock up essential commodities for relief camps and serve the affected with providing food and he advised the officials to ensure that health camps have continuous power supply. The Naidu Government issued an order deputing district officials, heads of departments and every government employee would be on duty until relief, restoration and rehabilitation works were fulfilled.[174] For Naidu, his biggest concern is that phone lines remain dead, placing communication limits for rescue and relief operations. He criticised telecom providers for lack of restoration even a couple of days after the cyclone and said his efficiency in disaster relief works has gone down by 50 percent because of the communication gap, adding that he is unable to engage with the disaster relief work force and people on the ground due to lack of connectivity and asked them to expedite reconnection of the network and to send continuous updates to people about the cyclone threat and SMS would be sent in Telugu to people.[175] This apart, officials have been directed to give updates about the cyclone through All India Radio (AIR). Naidu has utilised the Hyderabad National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) to use GIS, GPS and remote sensing instruments to detect the detrimental effects caused by Cyclone Hudhud in the region.[176] The NRSC employed geo-tagging to create a map of the damages, in order to facilitate the action of the national Disaster response forces (NDRF) deployed to provide support relief. Although precaution and mass evacuation plans have been implemented after NASA's cyclone alert on 8 October, the storm generated severe consequences, including property and live losses and communication systems' disruption. According to Andhra Pradesh’s Revenue (Disaster Management) Department. a total of 2,48,004 people were affected by Hudhud, 61 persons were killed which also damaged 70 houses and left 34 animals dead, trees and hoardings, crop loss, damaged roads, bridges, reservoirs, tanks and railway lines and the Vizag airport roof was blown away while its communications satellite network collapsed, has suffered a loss of Rs.500 crore and 40,000 electricity poles were damaged and around 6,000 transformers damaged. Enormous damage happened to the agriculture sector, resulting in crop loss of Rs 948 crore in 2.38 lakh hectares and horticulture sector was also the worst hit with the loss estimated at Rs 1339.2 crore (87,984 ha) also including damage to the tune of Rs 6,136 crore to private industries and other Damages to Visakhapatnam Steel Plant at Rs 1,000 crore, Indian Navy Rs 2,000 crore, Andhra University Rs 300 crore were estimated.[177]

In three days the Naidu Government had evacuated 1,50,000 people and accommodated in 223 relief camps and 6,85,000 people had been provided food[178] and return the city to normalcy while restoration the power supply is the first priority with began erecting electric poles and transformers being laid brought in 500 trucks, 250 proclains and many gensets in hundreds from wherever they were available and moreover clearing thoroughfares of trees on roads and supply of essential commodities like food, milk and water tankers to households, ensure stock availability of petrol in filling stations and revived of Public Transportation services, cell phone towers and internet connectivity were almost restored, after all it was devastated by the cyclone fury. According to Naidu, the exact financial loss caused by Cyclone Hudhud is calculated and estimates indicate that it up to Rs 70,000 crore[179] and central government announced the interim aid of 1000 crore for operations.[180] Naidu said in an interview he will be in Vizag till he is satisfied about a job accomplished and noted the extent of the damage...we cannot visualise, imagine, assess it but the government was able to reduce loss of life due to the precautionary measures taken proactive and timely action and after to re-stabilize their livelihood[181]

Following Cyclone Hudhud, the next cyclone that battered the north-east coastal Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts of Andhra Pradesh state was Cyclone Titli, leaving as many as 2.25 lakh families in about 18 mandals on 11 October 2018, triggering gales of 120 kilometres per hour (75 mph) causing extensive damage. As per official estimations, 9.07 lakh people, in 202 villages, in 18 mandals were affected due to the cyclone. About 8,962 houses were damaged, 290 kilometres (180 mi) of roads were destroyed, 386 trees fell and 80 minor irrigation projects and tanks were damaged.[182] Power supply was affected in six towns and 319 villages. The cell phone networks of BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited), and private telecom companies were affected, sending communications out for two day. Horticulture was hit with damages to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore followed by agriculture (Rs 800 crore).[183] Naidu acted as soon as the cyclone warning was received by alerting the administration to buckle up for the calamity and was in constant touch with officials of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Real-Time Governance and alerted the Collectors of both Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam districts.[184] The Naidu appealed to people in the cyclone-affected villages to be alert to prevent loss of life and directed the officials to take up relief and rehabilitation works in the affected regions and issued immediate orders for necessary assistance to the villagers and farmers who suffered severe losses. 25 kilograms (55 lb) rice was provided to the families and 50 kilograms (110 lb) to the families of the fishermen community. Additionally, dal, palm oil, potatoes, onions and sugar were distributed to families, and milk was made available to children in cyclone-affected regions. Rs. 5 lakh was announced as an ex gratia grant to family members of 8 persons killed by the cyclone, and that asbestos sheets would be distributed free of cost to fishermen to help with the repairing of their houses, also to pay Rs 2 lakh for the fisheremen who lost their boats. Compensation will be Rs 6 lakh for motor boats and Rs 10,000 for each net. Aqua farmers will receive Rs 30,000 compensation per hectare to recover from the damage. 100 Deputy Collectors were pressed into service to take part in cyclone relief operations and with a nodal officer appointed in-charge of each mandal to supervise relief operations. More than 50% of the power supply was restored by the next day. Naidu addressed people at Lollaputtuga, Balliputtuga, Patavaraka, Manikyaputtuga, Borivanka, and Sompeta and interacted with them on the relief measures while feedback was collected from people to know whether they received water and food and restoration of power supply was assured.[185] The Real Time Governance Society (RGTS) correctly forecast the course of Cyclone Titli in the coastal region of Srikakulam district above Kalingapatnam. The cyclone made its landfall at Pallesarathi village, Vajrapukothuru Mandal on the night of 11 October 2018. The clear prediction helped in communicating with the local agencies to evacuate the coastal population to safe places in time and taking other preparatory measures while passing the communication to fisherman to remain off the sea for fishing due to the cyclone and rough sea. All these measures by RTGS ensured that the number of casualties due to Cyclone Titli remained low. Though protective measures were taken, there was still eight people killed, seven in Srikakulam district and one in Vizianagaram, whereas Titli claimed more than 62 lives in Odisha State.[186]

Naidu wrote two letters stating the total damage assessment to the central government to declare Cyclone Titli as a national calamity, while demanding Rs 1200 crore as interim relief.[187] He also requested the central government to depute teams to assess damage from the cyclone. Naidu expressed disappointment at the lukewarm response from the central government despite large-scale damage in Andra Pradesh from the cyclone.[188]

From similar experience of Cyclone Titli, the Naidu Administration challenged the third cyclone has used RTGS and was able to deftly handle Cyclone Phethai, which hit central coastal Andhra Pradesh near Kakinada on 17 December 2018.[189] RTGS monitored the entire track of Cyclone Phethai right from its inception as a low-pressure system 1400 south-east of Bay of Bengal to the time it formed into a depression, deep depression and severe cyclone until it made landfall off AP Coast between Kakinada and Yanam. Understanding the movement of the cyclone, RTGS alerted the rural departments in central districts especially Guntur, Krishna, East and West Godavari and up to Visakhapatnam to further advise farmers to quickly complete harvesting of their standing crops. This ensured more than 30,000 hectares of Paddy crops were saved from lodging and inundation due to the cyclone and Fishermen were alerted one week before Landfall not to venture into the sea considering a forecast of rough sea and tidal waves. There was not even a single casualty of fishermen during the cyclone. RTGS alerted the fisheries department, local administrations, local communities, village functionaries of the impending storm through IVRS calls advising them to stay off the sea. Based on RTGS recommendation, communication was also sent to fishermen who went into the sea to return. Nearly 350 vessels were made to return before the cyclone. There was a case of four boats that went deep into the sea that could not be communicated using mobile phones. RTGS utilised the FM radio and sent advisories to these vessels naming their villages asking them to immediately return. The Naidu Government also pressed helicopter operations taking the support of Navy to identify the four vessels carrying 26 fishermen that drifted off from East Godavari[190] and one casualty were reported and advisories were also sent to the citizens of vulnerable mandals along the coast where the cyclone was predicted to make the landfall forcing the evacuation of 20,000 people have been sheltered in relief camps.[191]

Naidu put constant pressure on South Korea’s Kia Motors officials to set up a mega manufacturing plant at Yerramanchi village, Penukonda mandal of Anantapur district while Kia having huge competition from other states for their plant setup and Kia looking for alternative locations for their investment. Despite the Kia make several query's about scarcity of water in drought prone region that is essential for their plant in that area. At the time, Naidu promised the Kia corporation with continuous water supply and within six months his govt make built of 7 km pipelines to plant with also inaugurating the Gollapalle water reservoir as water source and also Naidu woo the Kia Motors Corporation with given basic facilities and special incentives to establish the plant in Anantapur. Besides Naidu had a strategy to bring in other sub ancillary and industry units after this plant operations.[192] Finally Naidu efforts fulfilled while Kia Motors entered into an MoU with Naidu Government of Andhra Pradesh on 20 April 2017, to produce 3 lakh vehicles per year with an investment of Rs 13,000 crore to provide employment opportunity to 11,000 persons, including 4000 direct jobs. Naidu speaked at the frame installation event of Kia motors and expressed his gratitude to the farmers who gave their lands for the industry and opined that with the Kia Motors manufacturing plant, the face and fate of Anantapuramu district would change. “This is a significant and first step in our efforts to turn Andhra Pradesh into an automobile manufacturing hub. It is a historic day and the strong bond between AP and Kia will endure,” Naidu said. Also the APIIC allotted 535.50 acres for the main plant, 36 acres for the Korean township and 11.20 acres for the training centre. Kia Plant construction was completed in 18 months. while Naidu inaugurated the first Trial Car of kia in January 2019.[193][194]

In 2016, Naidu at India and England first ever Test Match at ACA–VDCA Cricket Stadium build under his Govt in 2003 at Visakhapatnam

As Visakhapatnam is the largest city and the main hub of economic activity for Andhra Pradesh state. In 2018, Naidu has proposed the Metro rail project into three corridors covering of 42.55 km in and around Vizag city to reduce traffic as was providing a good public transport system in the city and Naidu government has allocated a 250 acres of land for the establishment of Metro Rail in vizag and the project will be constructed under the PPP partnership model while the land can be used for commercial purposes so that the revenue could be used for the metro rail construction.[221] and call for bidding of project. In 2016, Naidu has unveiled a pylon on the stadium premises to mark the first Test between India and England. After long time in stadium and despite this drawback the Visakhapatnam doesn't have an international stadium of repute, but instead of having only ACA–VDCA Cricket Stadium that was established by Naidu govt in year 2003 under ACA and Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh(SAAP) and Naidu has planned a New world class stadium as the sports ecosystem his government created in Gachibowli for Afro-Asian games in 2003 that Vizag can host the Asian Athletic Championships in future and proposed for construction of sports complex with a football field of international standards and state-of-the-art facilities including a synthetic athletic track and an indoor stadium hosting badminton and basketball matches, volleyball, table tennis, boxing, wrestling and weightlifting to be ready at the earliest so that the port city can host international sports events and Naidu government has held talks with Visakhapatnam Steel Plant for over land of 250 acres to build sports village and (VSP) authorities accepted for land proposal.[222]

Naidu launched the Fintech Valley Vizag in 2016 with the further goal of elevating the City of Destiny as the City of Fintech capital and to be one of the top three Blockchain research and development hubs in the world.[223] The motive to target the financial center is because Information technology has already existed in several cities in India and it is difficult to approach and attract the same businesses from IT and Naidu looks for alternative means to create a huge platform for the financial tech industry with a vision to make Vizag a financial destination in India and his government initiated AP Electronics and IT Agency (APEITA), an autonomous body to encourage investments with the previously introduced Fintech Valley Accelerator Program. As Vizag is the biggest city in the state and has the potential, Naidu provided the infrastructure by inaugurating the Millennium IT Towers, made available the 40-acres IT park in Rushikonda, proposed a 600-acre IT park at Kapuluppada, planned to develop the Mega IT hub at Madhurawada, and his government signed several MOU's with the multinational companies especially the Google X development center to create campuses in the valley[224] and some have already established their Center of Innovation offices including the Franklin Templeton, the Fortune 500 company.[225] As part of this, the Naidu government has arranged many Fintech conferences and hackathons relating to Blockchain and cyber security in the city. Furthermore he inaugurated the Sunrise Startup Nation, an incubation centre to promote technology startups and for young entrepreneurs to share their ideas in the state.[226]

Tribal Museum established by the Naidu government in 1996 as part of tourism development at Araku Valley

Naidu became the brand ambassador of Araku products when he was Chief Minister and came up with a novel way of promoting Araku Coffee and the Araku Valley in Visakhapatnam.[227] The coffee produced at Araku has a history dating to the 18th century. In 1898, the British introduced coffee to the East Godavari district in Pamuluru before it spread to Araku in the early 19th century. After independence, the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department took up coffee plantations in the valley and by 1956, the Coffee Board of India appointed Girijan Cooperative Corporation (GCC) for its promotion through local tribal farmers. In a significant development, the Naidu Government and SpiceJet, the third largest airline in the country by number of domestic passengers carried, came forward to serve the organic brew of Araku to its passengers. SpiceJet air hostesses would make special announcements about the brand and its significance, and about the coffee plantations in Araku Valley. To increase visits to tourist places located around Araku Valley, a scheme of scratch cards was introduced. Cards would be given to every passenger and two lucky passengers, along with their families, would receive free accommodation in Araku Valley and the tourism department would pay to the airline towards promotion of Araku Coffee. The brand became so popular and exotic that Naidu gifted them to Korean and Russian delegates during their visits and the coffee was marketed in all the international investor meetings organised by the state.[228][229] Naidu once said that Araku Valley’s tribal coffee is competing with Columbian and Sumatran coffee in the international market. Large-scale procurement and dedicated promotion of Araku coffee are creating employment opportunities for tribal youth. The coffee production became a pet project of Naidu and promised to ramp up coffee cultivation by additional 100,000 acres of pesticide-free plantations with boosting the income levels of tribal farmers in the valley.[230] while it is planned to launch the next set of retail stores in New York and Tokyo and under its own brand name "araku COFFEE" have already launched its first retail store in the Le Marais, Paris.[231][232]

The Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ), an ultra modern medical equipment manufacturing and testing facility, open to manufacturers and innovators was formally inaugurated in December 2018 by Naidu.[233][234] The MedTech Zone will meet the requirements of the domestic market as well as the export market, according to Naidu speaking at the inaugural session of the fourth WHO Global Forum on Medical Devices after dedicating the MedTech Zone to the nation, Naidu said 80-90 per cent of the medical devices in the country were imported and most of them could be manufactured at the MedTech Zone and even exports could be taken up at a later stage.[235] The park will give a tremendous boost to the medical devices segment in the healthcare industry, he added.

Naidu reviewing manufacturing and testing facilities at inauguration of Andhra Pradesh Medtech Zone Limited Visakhapatnam in 2018

AMTZ envisions to put India on the global map of high-end medical equipment production and make health care products affordable and accessible not only for India but for the world at large. AMTZ also has two world-class incubation facilities for innovators and start-ups in the field. India’s first government funded medical devices manufacturing park made formal agreements with two companies for which layout has been approved and construction has completed. The park which also houses four medical device testing centers with 18 different types of testing facilities under one roof booked 28 companies out of total 45 companies in the first phase. Naidu said it was the first time the World Health Organisation Global Forum on Medical Devices was being held in India and thanked the WHO for choosing Visakhapatnam and MedTech Zone for the purpose. He offered to host it the next time as well.[236]

The Naidu said that Zone will provide for capital-intensive scientific facilities required by most medical device manufacturers and more than 200 modern state of the art independent manufacturing units. The AMTZ built on 270 acres (110 ha) in two phases, will be a hub for manufacturing medical devices in the country.[237] The first phase was completed at a cost of Rs 450 crore and the second phase will be completed at a cost of Rs 110 crore. Around 240 companies will manufacture medical equipment at the Zone, generating 25,000 jobs. From thermometer to CT scan machines, all medical tools will be manufactured and tested at the AMTZ. The facilities include the largest 3D printing center, bio-material testing, X-ray tube testing, prototyping, rapid tooling, CT Scan tube, largest gamma sterilisation plant for medical devices, R&D specialists and skill specialists. With good scope for manufacturing of medical equipment, by 2030, India will have chances of getting $40 billion marketing opportunities. Addressing representatives from 90 countries, Naidu urged them to invest in the AMTZ. AMTZ organised a mega business conference meeting ‘MedAsia Business Forum’ attended by over 200 medical device manufacturers, original equipment manufacturers (OEM) facilitators, small and medium-sized enterprises, innovators, start-ups, design solutions, venture fund managers and government entities.[238] As per the National Medical Devices Manufacturing Policy 2015, Naidu said investors in the AMTZ would receive permission through a single-window process.[239][240]

Naidu welcoming Bill Gates to the AP Agritech Summit in 2017 at Visakhapatnam Airport

The initial idea to develop an international airport in Vizag began when Naidu was Chief minister of Andhra Pradesh in January 1997,[241] then his Government announced its proposal to setup the international airport with the help of private participation at a cost of Rs. 5 billion, aiming to make Visakhapatnam airport the primary gateway to eastern India and southeast Asia. The plan is a part of making Vizag an "International City" and the state's tourism hub. The proposal to build the international airport is part of his Vision 2020 as per which two new international airports are proposed, Shamshabad International Airport and Visakhapatnam Airport. After returning in 2014 his government acquired 2,703 acres of land, but it required four years due to land owner disputes and acquisition at Bhogapuram, Vizianagaram[242] and Naidu laid the foundation for a new greenfield international airport for Visakhapatnam on February 2019[243] and said the Bhogapuram international Airport would boost the economic development of northern coastal districts and a world-class airport is needed for the promotion of IT and tourism in Vizag. While the airport developed under PPP (Public-Private Partnership) mode also will be integrated with Aerocity, a Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) facility and an Aviation Academy and Naidu assigned bid to GMR group, the same infrastructure company he assigned bid to build and operate the Shamshabad International Airport at Hyderabad in 2002.[244][245] The current Visakhapatnam international Airport is a naval airfield belonging to the Eastern Naval Command, which proposed separate flying slots for civil and military flights at city airport.[246] And Naidu strongly opposed proposed military constraints on the airport as this may slow the development of Brand Vizag city. The new civilian international airport estimated to be completed by 2023 will replace the existing Indian Navy airport.[247]