"What we did was merely an expression of frustration that there was no cooperation from the government and no corporate could go on waiting for three and half years for a project to fructify," he said responding to a question on the reasons for the walkout.

However, the Tata Industries action was "neither an ultimatum nor a threat. It was only a withdrawal," he told media persons at the inaugural of the Tata Cellular Costa Corridor on Friday. He, however, refused to put the blame on any one individual or party.

Talking about the proposed international airport project in Hyderabad, Ratan Tata said he had not given thought to it till chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu mentioned the project this morning.Though the group was not actively involved in the project as yet, one of the group consultancy firms had indeed bid for conducting a feasibility study for the project, the Tata chairman said.

The Andhra Pradesh government has proposed to take up an international airport in the private sector to keep in line with the increasing international stature of the state.

Elaborating on his five-point agenda to put Hyderabad on the global map, the Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who made the first cellular call on the Costa Corridor, said he intended making the city a transit hub for all passengers to Europe and China.

In the coming years the city should become an alternative to Singapore, Dubai or Kuala Lumpur whose strengths have been only ports and airports, Naidu said, stating he wanted to make the state a role model in this respect.

While Hyderabad was well on its way to becoming the IT capital of India, he also wanted to make it the best in four other sectors which include health,leisure and tourism, and financial and insurance services, he stressed.

Requesting the support and cooperation of the Tata group in this endeavour, Naidu said he even intended integrating the Tata telecom projects into his Vision 2020 programme. "In fact, I have even started marketing the Tata Cellular Costa corridor and included it in all my presentations as one of the positive points for investments in the state", he said in a lighter vein.

Lauding Naidu's developmental efforts in the state, Ratan Tata said it was a privilege to meet a person with such vision and one who felt good was not good enough but sought to be the best. Elaborating on the telecom plans of the Tata group in the state, he said the group would invest up to Rs 5,000 crore over the next 15 years in Andhra Pradesh opening up job opportunities for 5,000 people.