Chandrababu Naidu hails budget as 'growth-oriented'

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has termed the union budget disappointing but his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N. Chandrababu Naidu welcomed it, terming it "development-oriented".

Naidu told reporters here Thursday evening that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has made a good attempt to put the Indian economy back on rails.

Naidu, whose Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is a partner in the coalition government at the centre, said the budget presented by union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely focussed on industrial development, infrastructure and employment generation.

He said it was a good maiden budget despite the fact that NDA government inherited many problems from the previous UPA government.

Naidu said the Visakhapatnam-Chennai and Chennai-Bangalore industrial corridors would benefit Andhra Pradesh, while the proposed hardware park at Kakinada would help the state in addressing the problem of unemployment.

He welcomed setting up of an IIT and IIM in the state, saying this would help develop the state as a knowledge society. "We need many such institutions," the TDP chief said.

Naidu said the central government made a good beginning with various initiatives and hoped that in the coming days it would come out with specifics and allocate funds.

Asked about poor allocation to Andhra Pradesh despite its projected huge revenue deficit, Naidu said it was satisfactory as the government has just made the beginning. He said the state in due course would take up various issues and ensure that the central government supports them all, including funding and issues relating to special status.

Stating that the state faced many problems, he exuded confidence of overcoming them.

The chief minister was also confident that Andhra Pradesh would emerge as the most developed state on the east coast. He said the state would develop like Gujarat.