Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd Managing Director Karan Adani called Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu "an institution" and "a visionary" who "rewrote the playbook of modern industrial India."
The comment came after Naidu hosted national and foreign business delegates and signed over 600 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) at the two-day CII Partnership Summit in Visakhapatnam.
"Policy alone does not create history, vision does," Karan Adani said.
Naidu transformed Hyderabad into a global tech hub and is now steering Swarna Andhra 2047 with entrepreneurial governance and startup-level innovation, he added.
"Under your captaincy, Andhra Pradesh is ready once again for take-off."
Naidu called the event a "super hit", with 4,975 industry leaders including 640 international delegates in attendance. The chief minister said the event brought investments of Rs 13.25 lakh crore through 613 MoUs, creating opportunities for 16.31 lakh jobs.
The state has received over Rs 20 lakh crore in investments in the last 17 months, he added.
Karan Adani also credited state Human Resources Development Minister Nara Lokesh for making Andhra Pradesh a launchpad for many successful startups. Nara Lokesh is a new-age leader who is "agile, data-driven, deeply humane," and whose focus on skilling, digital infrastructure, and new-age industries is making Andhra Pradesh "India's fastest-moving startup state," Karan Adani said.
Reaffirming the Adani Group's commitment, Karan Adani said the conglomerate has already invested over Rs 40,000 crore across ports, logistics, cement, infrastructure, and renewable energy. He announced plans to invest an additional Rs 1 lakh crore over the next decade in ports, data centres, cement, and energy sectors.
'Competition Is Inevitable': Chandrababu Naidu
Chandrababu Naidu responded to questions surrounding the debate over Hwaseung shifting its investment from Tamil Nadu to Andhra Pradesh and the sharp reactions from Karnataka after Google chose Visakhapatnam for a major project.
He said cooperative federalism works best when states compete, and that such rivalry ultimately benefits citizens.
"Competition is inevitable, only when states compete do people benefit. If everyone becomes complacent, how will investments grow?" he said.
The chief minister praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ensuring national stability and pushing economic reforms that encourage investment. He said it is natural for some states to "feel the heat" when others perform better.
"If other states do well, investors will go there; if we do better, they will come to us. I always encourage competition. My own ministers should never be complacent," he said.
(Disclaimer: New Delhi Television is a subsidiary of AMG Media Networks Limited, an Adani Group Company.)
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