The “hi-tech” politician, as TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu was known during his nine-year tenure, is back with his vision for development of the successor State of Andhra Pradesh.

Growth corridors in different segments, pilgrim corridor covering all major temples, rail rapid transport system (bullet trains), three international airports and development of port-based industrial clusters for accelerated economic growth find an important place in the manifesto. Special focus is on bullet trains and high speed transit system to enable faster transport from any district to the capital city of the new State. “People should be able to reach the capital in a couple of hours,” he said.

Mr. Naidu unveiled an ambitious plan for the development of the new State in his party’s manifesto with an assurance that he would personally market the resources to attract investments. The manifesto focuses on development of growth corridors, specialising in different areas, for achieving 10 to 15 per cent growth on an average over the next decade.

The industrial corridor between Visakhapatnam and Chennai will be centred on development of industrial clusters around ports – from Kalingapatnam to Durgarajapatnam. In addition to the existing highway, a high speed transport corridor would be developed for faster connection between these industrial clusters. The manifesto proposes revival of the Buckingham Canal, the water transport way running along the coast, connecting all the major ports for shipment of products developed in the clusters to the nearest port.

The TDP proposes to leverage the special status accorded to Srikakulam-Vizianagaram-Visakhapatnam and four districts of Rayalaseema for securing funds liberally from the Centre to take up developmental works. Simultaneously, the existing airports at Visakhapatnam, Tirupati and Vijayawada would be upgraded to international airport status while smaller airstrips would be set up in each of the 13 districts in the new State.

The focus will be on agriculture, aquaculture and export processing zones in the coastal districts while Guntur and Prakasam would be developed as textile hubs. Cement and steel industry would take the centre-stage in Kadapa, Kurnool and Anantapur while Chittoor and Anantapur would be developed as manufacturing hubs specialising in electronics and pharmacy sectors.

“Funds are not a criterion if there is a leadership with vision for development. I had done it before in case of Hyderabad and I am committed to put Andhra Pradesh on the international map,” Mr. Naidu said.

He said the TDP had prepared the manifesto in consultation with experts in the field and “enough care is taken to make sure that the promises are practicable”.