Andhra Diary: Naidu bets big on drones, Vizag mimics Singapore

Chandrababu Naidu is back in the driver’s seat and he’s stepping on the gas. The longest-serving chief minister of Andhra Pradesh—including a 9-year stint from 1995 to 2004 at the helm of the undivided state—is now on his fourth term. In October, Naidu made national headlines when he publicly accused his predecessor Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy (better known as YSR) of permitting the use of ghee adulterated with animal fat to make the famous Tirumala laddus.

Done with that bit of ‘political drama’, Naidu’s now back to his old self, that of a CEO-type leader, bidding to reprise his role as the architect of a high-tech Hyderabad to rival Bengaluru. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief presented a budget of Rs 30 lakh crore with a slew of ambitious plans to make AP a global economic and tech hub with massive infusions of money and technology in several industrial sectors.

Setting an ambitious 15 per cent annual growth rate and a target of 20 lakh jobs in the next five years, Naidu said the state would invest in its youth to set the tone. He announced a clutch of new industrial parks, huge investments in agrobased food-processing sectors and innovation hubs to achieve his goal of making AP a global manufacturing hub. The centrepiece of Naidu’s tech vision is the creation of a ‘drone city’ in Orvakal in Kurnool district spread over 300 acres.

Announced last month at the Amaravati Drone Summit 2024 in Mangalagiri, it envisages an investment of Rs 1,000 crore, the generation of 40,000 jobs and the churning out of 25,000 skilled drone pilots. With a 20 per cent subsidy on investments and a Rs 500 crore allocation for the rollout, it is also an attempt to lure over a 100 drone companies to the state.

Andhra Pradesh will be competing with the neighbouring states of Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, all of whom have drone ambitions. The Andhra Pradesh Drone Policy 4.0 (2024–29) aims to transform the state into the country’s primary destination for drone technology, said AP Drone Corporation CMD K. Dinesh Kumar.

The drone market is estimated to grow rapidly over the next 5 years (one estimate puts it at 17 per cent annually), fuelled by galloping demand from diverse sectors like agriculture, defence and e-commerce. With a shift from military use to commercial applications in agriculture (crop assessment), urban planning for smart city interventions and healthcare (medical supplies delivery), the government is also looking at ways to include drones in the delivery of government services and seeks to appoint special ‘drone innovation officers’ in government departments.

Andhra Pradesh already has a record of delivering public services such as monthly payments to older women and rations at people’s doorsteps. It will be interesting to see how drones could up this game.

Seaplane tourism takes off

A De Havilland Twin Otter Series 400 seaplane is the centrepiece of a new tourist attraction that the state is touting. It made its inaugural flight on 9 November, taking off from Punnami Ghat (near Prakasam Barrage) in Vijayawada for a short hop to Srisailam in Nandyal district. CM Chandrababu Naidu, who travelled on the flight, said seaplane tourism offered an innovative way to promote tourism in the state.

It was, he said, essential to harness technology to promote growth, adding it would also improve local connectivity and supplement existing air services. According to the state tourism minister, the test run was a demonstration of the feasibility of seaplane flights as a method to showcase picturesque locations in the state including Araku Valley, Lambasinghi, Rushikonda, Kakinada and the temple town of Tirumala.

Laddus, anyone?

Coming in from the cold

A long-time member of the banned CPI(Maoist) group has surrendered to the police after more than three decades on the run. Kodi Manjula, a.k.a. Nirmala, was a Dandakaranya special committee member of the group. The 46-year-old gave herself up to the Warangal commissioner of police, Amber Kishore Jha.

The Rs 20 lakh reward for her capture was handed over by cheque towards her rehabilitation. Manjula had joined the People’s War Group (a forerunner of the Maoist party) after her brother and a close relative, both Naxalites, were killed in police action.

She was reportedly involved in several Maoist operations, including the 2013 attack on a convoy of the Indian National Congress in Darbha valley, Chhattisgarh. Among the 27 people killed was Congress leader V.C. Shukla.

Manjula’s surrender is symptomatic of the waning of the Maoist movement in the central Indian jungles of Bastar, following a crackdown by successive state and central governments. A pale shadow of itself, it has lost considerable ground in Andhra Pradesh, which had nurtured the revolutionary movement in its early stages.

Sustained police action, combined with substantial reform measures, led to operations being shifted to Odisha and Chhattisgarh.

Vizag to see Singapore-style Marina Bay Sands facility

The demolition of the Taj group’s iconic Gateway hotel on Beach Road, Visakhapatnam has been received with mixed feelings by locals. Originally the Sea Pearl hotel dating back to 1988, the Gateway, which opened in 2018, quickly became a city landmark with its vintage charm.

Varun Hospitality, which now owns the prime property, announced its plans to come up with a new mixed-use facility along the lines of Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands. The proposed structure includes a deluxe hotel with 374 sea-facing rooms and a rooftop replete with bars, restaurants, swimming pool and helipad.

The project which claims to minimise its carbon footprint with advanced green technologies such as double-glazed windows, is estimated to cost Rs 500 crores and is expected to be finished by 2028.