Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy Monday took the battle of attracting the IT and semi-conductor industry between Hyderabad and Bangalore right into the Karnataka capital, wooing companies aggressively and taking a dig at his neighbour.
Addressing an industry meet in Bangalore, he said infrastructure in Andhra Pradesh was better than any other state in the country but refrained from making any critical reference to Bangalore, where the IT and biotech industries have often complained about poor infrastructure.
The event was organised by APINVEST, a nodal agency set up by the Andhra Pradesh government to promote investments in the state.
Some of the top executives of the industries, including chairman of Indian Semiconductor Association Dr Rajendra Khare, who is also CEO of Broadcom, and Infosys Technologies Chief Financial Officer T V Mohandas Pai were among those present.
Reddy also said some of the industry leaders informed him that the decision-making process of his government was faster compared to other states.
His comment was seen by some in the audience as a reference to Infosys' statement in January that it was not in a position to expand its operations in Bangalore due to lack of availability of land and that its application for land was pending before the government for some years.
The Karnataka government had however late last month cleared Infosys' application for land for expansion.
Reddy noted that his state had recently bagged the Fab city project, which is to be set up by SemIndia in association with the government with a proposed investment of $3 billion (about Rs 13,500 crore). Besides, Infosys had decided to expand in a big way in Hyderabad.
He said Andhra Pradesh recorded 65 per cent growth in the IT and ITeS sector last year.
Andhra Pradesh government officials, however, refused to acknowledge that Hyderabad was competing with Bangalore to attract IT investments.
C S Rao, CEO of APINVEST and IT Advisor to the government of Andhra Pradesh said, "Bangalore and Hyderabad are not competing with each other. We are partners in progress. We will work together. Both of us want to have a share in the larger pie".
