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Andhra woos investors in Bangalore

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CIOL Bureau
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BANGALORE: Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy today met top executives from IT and semiconductor firms here in a bid to attract investment to his state.

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At a breakfast meeting with IT and semiconductor leaders here, Dr Reddy took a dig at Bangalore and claimed, “infrastructure in Hyderabad is better than any other state.”

The Andhra chief minister, however, refrained from making any direct negative remarks on Karnataka.

Dr Reddy also said that Andhra's decision-making was faster than other states.

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Andhra Pradesh had recently pipped Karnataka to bag a $3 billion Fab city project, the first in India.

Among those attended the meeting were Dr Rajendra Khare, chairman of Indian Semiconductor Association and CEO of Broadcom, and T V Mohandas Pai, chief financial officer, Infosys Technologies.

"It is good that AP is doing what it's doing, because frankly Hyderabad has possibly the best infrastructure for IT in India today," Pai said.

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Infosys had in January said that it was not in a position to expand its operations in Bangalore due to lack of availability of land. Karnataka government subsequently cleared Infosys's application for more land last month.

However, Pai said: “Roads are very good, there (in AP) is a proactive CM, lot of investors are coming in."

Referring to the state of affairs in Bangalore, he said, "Morale of IT industry in Bangalore is low.”

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“ It is good to have competition between states. It is good for us to feel wanted. Because we had torrid times in Bangalore when people told us that we are not wanted that they fear and see us as aliens," Pai added.

D C S Rao, CEO of APInvest, said Bangalore and Hyderabad were co-partners in progress. “We will work together, both of us want to have a share in the larger pie,” he said.

APInvest, a nodal agency set up by the Government of Andhra Pradesh to promote investments in the state, organized the event.

© CyberMedia News

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