Despite concerns about possible changes in the investment climate in a new state, Hyderabad-based corporates are optimistic that bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh will not cut back on investments into business opportunities.
Sudhir Reddy, chairman and managing director of IVRCL said he is for a unified Andhra, ?Size is what matters and India is a poor country. Has anything happened after the bifurcation of Madhya Pradesh to form Chattisgarh? Or even Bihar and Jharkhand? However, I am quite confident that investments will flow into wherever there are business opportunities. I do not see any impact on the investments that have already been made in the state of Andhra Pradesh or for that matter that would come in the future even after the bifurcation exercise is completed.?
Harish Chandra Prasad, chairman of Confederation of Indian Industry (Andhra Pradesh) airs a similar view. He said, ?I spoke to couple of Telangana leaders and they said that they will extend red carpet to all the investments that come into the coastal Andhra and Rayalseema regions. I am sure the leadership would be mature enough to ensure that the investments do not go to the other neighbouring states.?
But company heads like Reddy wants the current uncertainty to get over soon. ?What needs to be done is remove the uncertainty in the minds of ?aam janta?. Leaders should come out clearly on what they exactly want?.
The stakes are high. Andhra Pradesh has scored high on most state-wise ranking of Indian provinces. According to CII numbers, in the year 2008-09, the entire state of Andhra Pradesh had attracted investments of Rs 8,728 crore including Rs 5,680 crore to large and medium industries sector and Rs 3,048 crore to small scale industries sectors. The employment generation during the period was 25,058 people in the large and medium industries sector and 92,743 people in the small scale industries category.
A clear picture on the impact of Telangana obtaining separate statehood on the investments would emerge after a decision is taken on whether Hyderabad would be made a part of Telangana or remains a union territory. The city of course belongs to the Telangana region geographically, with other districts including Adilabad, Karimnagar, Khammam, Mahaboobnagar, Medak, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, RangaReddy and Warangal districts.
Hyderabad has been the focus of most of the industry houses across various sectors including real estate. The city had. over the years, attracted several crores of investments. Other than Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada were the other cities in the state of Andhra Pradesh which drew investments.
According to experts, if Hyderabad is lost to Telangana, then there might be some change in the investment pattern. Koteshwar Rao, chief administrative and marketing officer of Cybercity Builders and Developers Pvt Ltd, feels that Hyderabad had attracted lot of investments over the years and continues to do so because of the strong infrastructure facilities. If at all there is a set back because of separate Telangana, even for the real estate sector, it would be for short period that too for sentimental reasons. As far as the thrust on urban infrastructure is concerned, it should be treated as infrastructure creation for the benefit of people. ?And I am sure that a good leadership, would work towards enhancing the infrastructure facilities for the betterment of people in the long run,? he said.