Does “speed of doing business” mean going abroad one after another? That too, with the Chief Minister and two ministers visiting Dubai — and right after their return, another minister heading to Dubai again to meet with the same company representatives — all of this has sparked several suspicions about the entire episode. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu toured Dubai for three days last month. There, he met with Sobha Group Chairman PNC Menon and explained the investment opportunities available in the state. At that time, the Andhra Pradesh government also announced that Sobha Group would donate ₹100 crore for the construction of a world-class library in Amaravati. Along with the Sobha Group representatives, Chandrababu also met with several industrialists and representatives of the Dubai government. During Chandrababu’s Dubai tour, Industries Minister T.G. Bharat and Infrastructure & Investments Minister B.C. Janardhan Reddy accompanied him.
To invite industrialists to the Global Investors Summit scheduled to be held in Visakhapatnam on November 14–15, teams of ministers along with Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu toured several countries. However, after Chandrababu’s Dubai visit with his ministers, Minister Narayana, APCRDA Commissioner Kannababu, and a few other officials have now toured Dubai again — which has become a major topic of discussion among bureaucratic circles. Interestingly, while Chandrababu met with Sobha Group Chairman PNC Menon during his trip, Minister Narayana has now met with Sobha Group Senior Vice President Vikram Datta. According to the government, Minister Narayana also met with several other industrialists during this visit.
In an unprecedented manner, Chief Minister Chandrababu, Minister Nara Lokesh, and several other ministers have been touring abroad under the banner of this investment summit. However, the government orders (GOs) mention that all expenses related to the ministers’ tours should be met from the budget allocated to the EDB (Economic Development Board), ensuring that these spending details don’t surface publicly. Meanwhile, the state government has set high hopes and ambitious targets for this summit. No one is criticizing the government’s efforts to attract large-scale investments to the state. However, the procedures being followed have certainly become a matter of debate. The government is reportedly allocating hundreds of crores worth of land and extending generous incentives to select companies in an arbitrary manner. In many cases, the benefits being enjoyed by these companies are far greater than the gains the state might receive in return. As a result, several of the government’s decisions have become highly controversial. While offering land at concessional rates to reputed companies like TCS is understandable to some extent, allocating hundreds of crores worth of land to real estate firms — many with limited or no proven track record — has raised serious questions about the Andhra Pradesh government’s approach.