India now competes with US and China: Chandrababu Naidu

Naidu said India should strengthen its global product manufacturing capabilities and avoid falling into the middle-income trap.

New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday said while India has become the fourth-largest economy in the world, the real competition with the top two economies, the United States and China, has just started.

Addressing the Annual Summit of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Naidu said India should strengthen its global product manufacturing capabilities and avoid falling into the middle-income trap.

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“Today, we are the fourth-largest economy. Another two years, we will be the third-largest economy. Until the third spot, we do not have competition. The real competition has just started,” he said.

“China’s economy is four-and-a-half times that of India and the US’ economy is seven times that of India. We should be ready,” Naidu said, adding that good public policy is important to take a big leap of development.

The TDP leader said in Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has a great leader at a great time and the country should take advantage of this opportunity.

The Andhra Pradesh chief minister said his government will set up a global leadership centre in Amaravati to prepare leaders for tomorrow, on the lines of Davos in Switzerland.

Naidu said Andhra Pradesh is the number one state in the country for producing green energy and encouraged industries to set up facilities there.

“We want to set up a global leadership centre in Amaravati to prepare global leaders for tomorrow. We are all going to Davos to learn, network, meet people, exchange ideas. Now, this is the place I want to make it,” he said.

A tech-savvy leader, Naidu said companies like TCS, IBM and L&T will be setting up quantum computing centres in Amaravati, the new under-construction capital of the southern state.

He said Andhra Pradesh is well-positioned for industries producing green energy.
Naidu said his state has good solar and wind energy potential, along with pumped storage, green ammonia and nitrogen. It also has ports.

“Some states have solar, some have wind, but all put together, Andhra Pradesh is the number one state for green energy and downstream industries,” he said.

Inviting industries to set up facilities in the state, Naidu said, “I will give you all the facilities. I am planning big.” He said out of India’s target to achieve 500 gigawatts of installed electricity capacity for non-fossil-based energy sources, 160 GW will come from Andhra Pradesh.