Andhra Pradesh is back and ready to do business, said Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader and state minister Nara Lokesh.
Speaking to Moneycontrol on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, Lokesh, who serves as state's minister for information technology, electronics and communications, and human resources development, said: "Davos is aimed at making it clear that Andhra is back, and we are ready to do business."
"We are ready to reintroduce Andhra Pradesh to the world and make it clear that we are back. We are actively pursuing investors to look at Andhra Pradesh seriously, especially in the energy sector," he added.
On competition between other states, "We are one nation at the end of the day. Our focus is on the speed of doing business," he said.
On Amaravati, the dream capital city of his father and CM N Chandrababu Naidu, Lokesh said: "We are really excited to restart Amaravati. It's unfair to compare Cyberabad to Amaravati. Amaravati is a greenfield city."
On IT sector plans, he said, "We have amazing human resources and talent. The majority of employees in IT companies are Telugu-speaking."
He said that they are focusing on policies to enable Andhra Pradesh to leapfrog in various sectors. "We are looking at how we can transform the school curriculum. Creating an Andhra model of education is very important. We are going to launch the Andhra model of education. Gender diversity will be a major focus. For example, household work in textbooks will show fifty percent being done by boys," he said.
On TDP's relations with the Narendra Modi-led NDA, Lokesh said, "I believe the budget balances the aspirations and expectations. Our support for the NDA is unconditional. Modi is a global leader, and we support him."
Asked about his ambitions for the deputy CM position, he said, "My hands are quite full right now."
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