Chief minister Chandrababu Naidu said his government would pull all stops out to make the business school a reality at the earliest. The school is supposed to impart its maiden curriculum in two years' time.

Sources said that though the decision had been a difficult one to make, the choice to locate the school in Hyderabad was unanimous, thanks mostly to the persuasive skills of Naidu and Anil Ambani of Reliance--who led a five-member committee comprising Deepak Parekh, Adi Godrej, KV Kamath and Anand Mahindra of Mahindra & Mahindra. Maharashtra was one of the three other states in the running to bag the deal.

"In fact, many of us may not be able to go to other cities and may even have to move business toHyderabad now," Ambani said, assuring that more business houses will now look towards the city to set up investments. Ambani said the committee had not seen any other state display the level of commitment or desire (to house the school) as did Andhra Pradesh.

``Although the decision was based on a matrix of choices, what really struck us was the school fitted into a readymade framework and perspective of the AP chief minister,'' Anand Mahindra said. The decision to set up the school in Hyderabad is a triumph of Naidu's political will and vision, he said.

The school, which is slated to come up on a 250-acres campus adjacent to the Indian Institute of Information Technology at Manikonda on the outskirts of Hyderabad, will have an initial investment of $80 million (Rs 320 crore), of which $25 million has already been mobilised. The memorandum was signed by the city muncipal administration's principal secretary, while ICICI's KV Kamath signed the deal on behalf of the business consortium. The consortium ismade up of 12 of the best-known bluechip firms, apart from some foreign institutions.

The planned school has already obtained affiliations from leading business schools like the Wharton School at the Universtiy of Pennsylvania and the JL Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. The varsities will facilitate curriculum development, student and faculty interchange and research at the new school. The school has already zeroed in on its potential faculty. About 150 national professionals in 20 American business schools have shown their willingness to come over to the school, it is learnt. The school will boast of 1:14-16 teacher-student ratio in line with international norms. ICICI chairman KV Kamath said that Hyderabad was not a strong contender in the initial rounds of discussion but that its claim could not be ignored in the run-up to the decision. HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh said that Hyderabad had, in fact, move up right from the bottom of the list to clinch the deal.

On hispart, Naidu had offered the consortium land with road access, and promised power and water connections at the site.