The slide presentation by Naidu was so well synchronised with the computerised scrolling on a large screen following his words closely - without the usual upside down, topsy-turvy shows that are usually the case - left most of the participants at the luncheon organised by the US-India Business Council and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) slightly dazzled.

Perhaps for the first time those who attended a presentation by an Indian delegation were treated to such a slick and sophisticated pitch replete with glossy brochures, information packages and CD-ROMs that many wondered if Naidu was "for real".

The chief minister, known widely now as the CEO of Andhra Pradesh, didn't waste any time in his presentation and got downto the nitty-gritty, explaining why Andhra Pradesh is an investor's haven, and rattled off facts and figures, demographic details and infrastructure facilities.

Setting the stage were CII president Rajesh Shah and power minister P R Kumaramangalam. The minister described Naidu as "the most active and...most dynamic chief minister. He has shown the rest of the country that if a chief minister has the will and determination and believes in his policies, he can make it work".

Shah, in introducing Naidu, said, "we admire him a lot because we see in him a totally different approach on how administration is to happen. That government is really meant for improving things for the people and this is what he has gone about doing in Andhra Pradesh."

Naidu spoke of his vision, of his efforts to cut red-tape, how he revelled in competition that had garnered billions of dollars in investment into Andhra Pradesh and of his goal of making Hyderabad the "transit hub between Europe and China" and better than Singapore orDubai.

He explained his rationale behind the establishment of institutes of excellence in Andhra Pradesh and his intention to shortly have "an electronic government" where everything would be communicated by E-Mail and information technology (IT).

Naidu was coy when one member of the audience, an expatriate Indian, implored him to finish his task soon in Andhra Pradesh. "India needs you and we would like to see you at the helm so that the whole country can benefit and not just Andhra Pradesh," the man said.

"I am not interested in Delhi, I am interested only in Andhra Pradesh," Naidu said. "I want to make Andhra Pradesh a role model, then automatically things will happen in India. That is the best service one can do to the country."

Later, at a press conference, Naidu said he was more concerned about achieving "people consensus" than "political consensus." He noted the "common man is very clear; he wants good performance, good governance."While denying that he had banished subsidies from the face ofAndhra Pradesh, Naidu said, "performance won elections, not the giving of subsidies or popular schemes." "Universally, human psychology says, they want credible leaders, they want honest administrators, they want good performance, apart from individual benefits," he said.

But Naidu asserted that "today I am giving subsidies better than any other government" and talked of several million rupees he gave out for rice, housing pensions, tariff concessions for agriculture and even for "artisans to uplift their skills."

"But at the same time, these subsidies are productive subsidies. That is the difference," he maintained. His irrefutable bias for IT simply kept overflowing and he predicted that "I feel strongly India will play a global role on information technology. After the US, only India is having that advantage. One is human resources and also language advantage -- English -- and also mathematics."

"Once electronic media, information technology is used, we can do wonders," he said. Naidu said, "Iam fixing all benchmarks for international standards" and acknowledged that the IBM Institute for Electronic Government he had visited would soon establish such an electronic government in his state. But he said he would acquire "not only IBM applications, I want to go for other applications also. I want to have a consortium -- IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, (whatever is) suitable to government."

Obviously a disappointment was that Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, whom Naidu met in Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Washington, would not be able to make it to India to inaugurate the HITEC City in Hyderabad. He said Gates had however promised to visit India again in 2000 either on his way or on his return from the Olympic Games in Australia. "But he confirmed, reaffirmed, that he will go in a big way to support the Hyderabad Microsoft Development Centre," Naidu said.

The chief minister told IANS that World Bank president James Wolfensohn, was "very appreciative of the work we are doing in Andhra Pradesh. He saidhe will give us all the support and help."

Naidu said Wolfensohn and the other senior bank officials he had met "are convinced about Andhra Pradesh" and pointed out that this is why despite the economic sanctions imposed by the US following India's nuclear tests, the bank had approved a major loan to the state "for an economic restructuring project". Besides Wolfensohn, Naidu met Jannik Lindbaek, executive vice-president of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), an appendage of the bank; and Caio Koch, managing director, World Bank.US assistant secretary of state for South Asia Karl Inderfurth also called on Naidu.