"We Built Supreme Infrastructure In Andhra": Chandrababu Naidu To NDTV At Davos

Andhra Pradesh has consistently built infrastructure far ahead of expectations, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has said. He is in Switzerland for the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2026 at Davos-Klosters, aiming to position the state as a global investment hub. 

“What we created was supreme infrastructure,” he told NDTV's Editor-in-Chief Rahul Kanwal, pointing to projects, including outer ring roads and large-scale road widening that, in his view, continue to serve as benchmarks even decades later. “Even today, many states replicate these models only after two or three decades. That is the strength we built over time.”

Naidu said that such infrastructure is no longer confined to one city or state but has become part of India's overall development story. “Now it is India's,” he said.

Asked about competition among larger states, particularly as some, like Maharashtra, speak of competing globally, Naidu dismissed the idea of zero-sum rivalry. For him, interstate cooperation is essential.

“Why should we think of competition?” he said. “India is a big nation. We are all friends and colleagues. Everybody will work together. Ultimately, if any state wins, the country wins.”

A key part of the conversation focused on the state's incentives for investors, particularly in the context of major projects like Google's proposed data centre in Andhra Pradesh. Naidu explained that incentives such as electricity concessions or GST reimbursements are structured transparently and do not amount to indiscriminate giveaways. “I'm not giving money from the exchequer,” he said.

On land allocation, a frequent point of political criticism, Naidu drew from his experience in Hyderabad. He said how land that was once valued at a few thousand rupees per acre in the mid-1990s is today sold for hundreds of crores.

“If you bring development, infrastructure, industry and economic activity, land value automatically increases,” he said. The benefits are not limited to a single company but extend to surrounding communities through higher land valuations, jobs and ancillary growth, he said. “We have to understand economics,” he added.

“If you do everything in a transparent way, people will accept it. Discrimination is what creates problems.”

Naidu spoke about the time he began pushing for IT-led growth in the mid-1990s.

“At that time, I didn't have engineering colleges. I created them. I didn't have IT companies. I went to California, met people, and brought them in,” he said. Policies such as telecom deregulation, the promotion of mobile technology, and even open-sky aviation agreements were all fiercely opposed initially, he said, but ultimately benefited the entire country.

“I was heckled. Who is benefiting today?” Naidu asked. “The country is benefiting. The people are benefiting.”

Discussing his takeaways from global engagements in Davos, Naidu said, “We have to create wealth to empower people,” he said, describing the current period as an “inspiring and interesting time” for India and for states like Andhra Pradesh.

He compared the rise of Silicon Valley, once the default US destination for Indian entrepreneurs, to the emergence of Indian technology hubs. “Why is everybody coming to Hyderabad today? Because the ecosystem is there,” he said. It is this ecosystem-driven model that he now wants to replicate and expand in Andhra Pradesh, particularly in Visakhapatnam.

“These are economic activities,” he said. “A culture develops over a period of time. Employment comes.”

Naidu claimed that in just 18 months, Andhra Pradesh had attracted investments worth nearly Rs 20 lakh crore, with commitments expected to create around 23 lakh crore jobs. Other investments, he said, take the total even higher.

He also spoke about emerging sectors such as quantum technology, green hydrogen and green ammonia, saying that investments in renewable energy have reduced power procurement costs and will help keep electricity prices in check.