Andhra Pradesh Discussions

[Gudavalli]

GAIL to supply Andhra Pradesh with gas to generate power

Hyderabad, Jul 18 (PTI) Gas Authority of India (GAIL) has agreed to supply 2.5 million metric standard cubic metres per day of re-gassified Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to power-starved Andhra Pradesh to enable it generate an additional 500 MW of power. GAIL chairman and managing director B C Tripathi gave this assurance to Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy during their meeting here today, a press release from the chief minister's office said. Andhra Pradesh's gas-based power plants have been producing 1600 MW of electricity less than the total installed capacity of 2770 MW due to non-availability of gas. This has pushed the state into darkness and also resulted in forced closure of industries for 12 days a month due to the gap between electricity demand and supply stretching to 35 million units per day. With uncertainty continuing over natural gas supply from the D6 fields of KG Basin, the state began looking for alternative supplies and requested GAIL for help.

[bobbie501]

What the heck situation we have plenty of reserves but allocation is limited Government seriously need to work curbing private firms like Reliance so on so forth orelse dark days ahead for people, The only solution to float AP govt. Gas based company.

[Prodigist]

Originally Posted by bobbie501

What the heck situation we have plenty of reserves but allocation is limited Government seriously need to work curbing private firms like Reliance so on so forth orelse dark days ahead for people, The only solution to float AP govt. Gas based company.

Reliance actually cut down production citing technical reasons. Maybe they are blackmailing the government so that they can increase the price of gas.

The LNG terminal proposal which had been there for the last 8 years has just been revived and it'll probably get operational in 2016. Thats a long way off.

Another bad thing is that Gas based plant are only going to increase in the next few years.

http://www.thehansindia.info/News/Ar...ontentId=56867

[aniketh87]

Originally Posted by bobbie501

What the heck situation we have plenty of reserves but allocation is limited Government seriously need to work curbing private firms like Reliance so on so forth orelse dark days ahead for people, The only solution to float AP govt. Gas based company.

Thanks to cong govt for this horrible situation....I am not able to understand one thing why state govt is not taking any steps to screw companies like reliance which is using state resources and in-turn blackmailing govt....seriously this country is run by corporates.....

[bobbie501]

Originally Posted by Prodigist

Reliance actually cut down production citing technical reasons. Maybe they are blackmailing the government so that they can increase the price of gas.

The LNG terminal proposal which had been there for the last 8 years has just been revived and it'll probably get operational in 2016. Thats a long way off.

Another bad thing is that Gas based plant are only going to increase in the next few years.

http://www.thehansindia.info/News/Ar...ontentId=56867

Reliance seriously wants most of the gas to be used in their home state of Gujurat & Mah as their intentions were clear enough when congress came into power way back 2004. Even heard certain hate speeches by a leech Modi saying that Andhra Gas is ours[Kick on his ass].

[Gudavalli]

Politicos, government officers in Kakinada among property tax defaulters

HYDERABAD: A recent RTI reply has revealed that the local politicians and government offices in Kakinada town are the biggest evaders of property tax. According to information furnished by the municipal corporation office of Kakinada on July 11, there are 660 individuals who have to pay a tax amount of more than Rs 20,000 each and they owe a total of Rs 17 crore to the government.

Prominent in the defaulters' list includes former Kakinada MLA Muthha Gopalkrishna, who has to pay Rs 2.18 lakh as property tax which includes arrears and penalties. Similarly, sitting Congress MLA from Kakinada town Dwarampudi Chandrasekhara Reddy owes Rs 51,530. TDP MLC Boddu Bhaskara Rama Rao has to pay Rs 93,921. The ruling party is also a major violator as the East Godavari district Congress office in Kakinada town has to pay Rs 12 lakh property tax.

Coming to government offices, the district collector's office has to pay Rs 75 lakh, office of district superintendent of police Rs 30 lakh, district treasury office Rs 33 lakh, R&B district engineer office Rs 20 lakh, district rural development authority office Rs 16 lakh and district medical and health office Rs 13 lakh.

The RTI applicant from Kakinada, P Venkatramu said, "This is a clear case of discrimination between the influential in town and the ordinary citizens. Why are the revenue officials not acting when so many local politicians and other rich citizens have not paid the property tax from so long? There are also many government departments who have defaulted and the concerned officials seem least interested in it." He demanded that the properties of the defaulters should be immediately attached or he would approach Lok Ayukta on this matter very soon.

[Gudavalli]

Heavy inflows into Almatti cheers AP ryots

VIJAYAWADA: The irrigation officials and the farmers heave a sigh of relief Worries over the kharif season are slowly easing out with the coastal districts receiving good rains and agriculture activity in the Krishna delta also picking up pace. The irrigation authorities heaved a sigh of relief following reports that the Almatti dam in Karnataka has been getting huge inflows. According to information, Almatti is receiving more than 60,000 cusecs a day.

The water level at Almatti, which was around 17 tmc a week ago, jumped to 35 tmc from 17 tmc following heavy inflows in the last three days. Almatti has a storage capacity of 130 tmc and projects such as Srisailam get waters from the upper stream only when the Almatti overflow. "Karnataka has not witnessed good rains in the last one month resulting in poor reserves in Almatti and Narayanpur projects. The water crisis in our state would ease only if the present level of inflow in Karnataka projects increases substantially in the next couple of weeks," observed D Sambaiah, chief engineer, Krishna delta.

The Almatti project had around 54 tmc of water in this January but the capacity fell to 17 tmc following prolonged dry spell in the region. The levels at Nagarjunasagar and Srisailam are constant at 132 tmc and 47 tmc respectively.

Although the rains arrived almost a month behind the schedule, the entire region received more than sufficient rains bringing cheer to the farmers.

Despite good rains during July, farmers were worried about the water availability in the coming days as paddy is a water-intensive crop and needs regular supply of water for the survival of the crops.

Nearly 15 lakh acres is being cultivated under Krishna delta in four districts -- West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur and Prakasam where all the four districts reported surplus rainfall in the last 45 days. While Krishna district received about 63 per cent surplus rainfall, Guntur reported 40 per cent surplus. West Godavari received 20 per cent more rainfall and Prakasam district too reported 14 per cent surplus rain thanks to the incessant rains in the last week. "Except three mandals, almost entire district received good rains and the farmers of upland areas such as Markapuram, Kanigiri too are content with the rains and are upbeat with farm activity," said V Narasimhulu, Prakasam district agriculture joint director.

[Gudavalli]

Andhra Pradesh CM tells industrialists that steps are on to mitigate power shortage

Hyderabad: The Chief Minister Mr N Kiran Kumar Reddy today assured industrial sector that several short-term measures are being taken to mitigate the power shortage problem in the State. The Chief Minister assured the representatives of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) that the State Government will try its best to help the industries by pooling power from all possible sources.

The representatives of the CII today met the Chief Minister at the Secretariat. Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy told the industrialists that AP Transco is purchasing 900 mw power. The Chief Minister said that solar power and wind power projects are also being encouraged in a big way. The Chief Minister asked the CII to consult other industrial associations and come out with concrete proposals to overcome the situation. He wanted them to work out how much more energy they can produce from captive power plants and what support and incentives they need in this regard.

The Chief Minister said as long term measures the Government of India is being approached for gas supply to the gas-based power plants in A.P. and also other Power projects in the State would start commercial production soon. The Chief Minister agreed to consider the proposals of CII to encourage solar power for hoardings, other lightings so that 200 to 300 mw can be saved.

Meanwhile the CMD, AP Transco said that the industries are being allowed open access to industries in purchasing power. He said that there are no power cuts to the poultry, cold storage etc. now. He also offered that if the industries are ready to instal the controlled meters, AP Transco is ready to supply 60% power on daily basis

The CII said that A.P. is having second largest hydel capacity in the country however subject to vagaries of monsoon. APGENCO is the third largest power generating utility in the country, next only to NTPC and Maharashtra. Highest installed capacity on natural gas (30%). However the recent dwindling gas scenario has affected power generation. The CII said A.P. is one of the first State to undertake power sector reforms in the country. Chief Secretary Smt. Minnie Mathew, Principal Secretary, Finance, V Bhasker, Commissioner, Commercial Taxes, Suresh Chand, CMD, AP Transco, Hiralal Samariya, MD, AP Genco, K Vijayanand, Commissioner, Industries, Karikala Valaven, Secretary to CM, K S Jawahar Reddy, Chairperson, CII, Suchitra Ella, Other Representatives of CII, Anil Kumar Epur, Jay Galla, M K Patodia, D V Manohar, Krishna Ram Bhupal, V S Venkataraman, Mahesh K Desai, Satya Kumar, A V Rao, Suresh Chitturi and B H Ravindra besides other State Government officials were present.

[Gudavalli]

AP will protect interests of Krishna Delta farmers: Minister

‘Government will explore all possibilities, including legal options’

The State government has taken a serious note of sentiments of Krishna Delta farmers and would take necessary steps to release irrigation water, according to district in-charge Minister Galla Aruna Kumari.

The Minister chaired the District Review Committee (DRC) meeting here on Monday. Disclosing the details of meeting, Ms. Aruna Kumari said a GO 69 issued during the Telugu Desam government came in the way of release of irrigation waters from Nagarjuna Sagar Project.

The GO 69 made it mandatory to maintain 510 feet level at Nagarjuna Sagar Project for drinking purposes. The Advocate General was studying the High Court’s recent orders. The government would take suitable action and ensure that the farmers do not incur any loss, she assured people.

The minutes of the DRC meeting regarding Krishna Delta farmers would be brought to the notice of the Chief Minister. The government would explore the possibilities, including legal options, to safeguard the interests of Delta farmers, she said.

The government has set a target to complete the irrigation projects by 2014. However, there was a delay in execution of the works due to shortage of sand. The sand scarcity arose following petitions filed in High Court and Supreme Court. To tide over the crisis, the government has asked the irrigation department to desilt 17 irrigation projects. The sand thus dug out would be utilised for irrigation works, she said.

Power crisis

On power front, she said many states across the country were facing power shortage. The demand rose by 15 per cent in the State. The hydel power generation came to a halt as there was no requisite water in reservoirs. The gas based power generation units were not functioning at installed capacity due to shortage of gas supply.

The Centre has agreed to provide gas to generate another 500 MW power. Notwithstanding the power shortage, the government has asked the discoms to ensure 7-hour power supply to agriculture, she said.

Referring to input subsidy given to farmers, the Minister said it was decided to convene a meeting with the bankers to explore the possibility of paying interest on input subsidy if the payment was delayed, she added.

Secondary Education Minister Kolusu Parthasarathy, MP Lagadapati Rajagopal, MLAs Malladi Vishnu, Jogi Ramesh, and Perni Venkata Ramaiah, Collector S.A.M. Rizvi, DRDA project director M. Janaki, Vijayawada Municipal Commissioner Md. Abdul Azeem were among those present.

[Gudavalli]

Coca-Cola, Jain Irrigation to showcase modern mango farming in Andhra

Chennai, July 24 (IANS) In a joint effort, Coca-Cola India and Jain Irrigation System plan to train around 50,000 mango farmers in ultra high density plantation (UHDP) techniques over the next five years, showcasing the 100 demo farms set up in Andhra Pradesh's Chittoor district.
A statement by Coca-Cola India Tuesday said Project Unnati, a sustainable agriculture initiative by the company along with Jain Irrigation, has achieved the first milestone of establishing 100 demonstration farms in the pilot phase to train over 50,000 farmers.
"Project Unnati builds on continuous efforts for sustainable agriculture. The UHDP technology for mango plantation is showcased in over 100 acres in the first phase. Given the growing demand for mango worldwide and the packaged juice segment being a high growth category, Project Unnati not only makes good social sense but also makes great business sense for us.
"We are delighted to partner with Jain Irrigation who is our largest mango pulp supplier to lend their expertise towards the success of this project," the statement quoted T. Krishnakumar, CEO, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, as saying.
In the pilot phase of Project Unnati, 62 farmers, whose farms aggregating 100 acres, have planted mango saplings using the UHDP technique while also utilising the benefits of drip irrigation to minimise quantity of water used per kilo of mango produce.
The programme will use specialised buses with in-built classrooms to provide on-the-go training in UHDP techniques in mango farming which can help farmers double their mango yields and thus significantly improve their livelihood.
The first phase of the project has an investment outlay of more than $2 million, shared equally between Coca-Cola India and Jain Irrigation.
In traditional mango cultivation, trees are allowed to grow as high as possible; they are pruned minimally or not at all. In UHDP, canopy is maintained in such a way to attain maximum light interception and canopy volume per unit area in early years of plantation. This leads in the orchard to attain full potential in three-four years.
The UHDP would allow 600 trees to be planted in an acre instead of just the conventional 40 trees to an acre.
The gestation period in UHDP is less and the farmer starts earning money in the early years as UHDP orchards start commercial bearing from the third year onwards against the seven-nine years required in traditional planting.
According to Anil Jain, managing director, Jain Irrigation, the mango productivity in farms in India is low despite the country contributing 55 percent of the global mango production.
Going forward the two companies are looking to extend the project to farmers in the Cudappa district in Andhra Pradesh which is known for the "Totapuri" mango variety used in the manufacture of Maaza mango drink.

[Gudavalli]

Prisoners to grow alfalfa for Himalaya Drug Company

HYDERABAD, JULY 24:
Prisoners in Andhra Pradesh will grow medicinal herbs for Himalaya Drug Company. The firm will give seeds, other inputs and extension services to inmates at the Prisoners’ Agricultural Colony at Anantapur, while the jail authorities would hand pick about 30 prisoners to grow alfalfa in a two-acre plot.

“We will buy back all the produce. It is up to the Department of Jails to compensate those who work on the fields,” Dr Babu, Head (Agrotech and Phytochemistry) of Himalaya Drug Company, said.

The company signed an agreement with the Department of Prisons for imparting training to the prisoners on cultivating medicinal herbs. After the training, they would grow medicinal herbs for the company.

The company procures 300 tonnes of alfalfa for its drug development activity, with most of it coming from contract farming agreements. Each acre would yield 3,000 kg of alfalfa.

The company, which registered a turnover of Rs 1,200 crore last year, is growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 25-30 per cent.

[Gudavalli]

Naidu writes to AP CM over Polavaram irrigation tenders

Opposition TDP today requested Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy to convene a meeting of floor leaders of all parties and place files related to tenders of Polavaram irrigation project before Assembly Speaker to clear apprehensions about irregularities.

"There are allegations that certain ineligible companies qualified in the tender process for the Polavaram related works because of which the State Government will stand to lose Rs 600 crore.

"While two Ministers of your Cabinet expressed apprehension over irregularities in the bidding process, the Major Irrigation Minister ruled out the possibility. The onus is, hence, on the Government to clarify doubts on the whole issue and ensure transparency," Leader of Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu said in a letter to Kiran.

The Telugu Desam President pointed out that the multi- purpose irrigation project was supposed to be completed by 2007 but even the canal works had not been completed till date despite incurring an expenditure of Rs 4,890 crore only "due to the inefficiency of the Government".
Large-scale irregularities were unearthed in the Polavaram tender process in August last, leading to the cancellation of project contract.

"People are strongly feeling that persons holding high office in the Government have played a key role in ensuring that companies of their choice are awarded the project contract," the former Chief Minister said.

"Hence, to instill confidence about the Government in people and ensure accountability and transparency in administration, all files related to Polavaram should be placed before the Assembly Speaker for scrutiny by leaders of all political parties," Naidu said in the letter.

[RRaju]

Shoot red sandalwood smugglers: DL to officials

Kadapa July 31 : Minister for Health D L Ravinder Reddy called upon the forest officers to shoot at sight the red sandalwood smugglers who were unbalancing the environment by falling trees to gain illegal wealth.
Talking to media person after inaugurating the 63rd Vanamahotsav program organized by Vana Samrakshana Samithi at Mydukur, Kadapa District here on Tuesday, the minister pointed out that red sandalwood was worth crores of rupees in the international market. He said only strict action could prevent the smugglers from destroying the forests through cutting and smuggling the valuable trees.
Ravindra Reddy came down heavily on some political leaders for putting the environments at stake by supporting the smugglers for their selfish gains. He said that the environmental system would lose balance with unscrupulous cutting of trees. He expressed his regression for not turning up of people against the cutting of trees even after the government introduced several acts to prevent one who try to indulge in unhealthy practice.
The minister called upon the people to play a key role in the protection of the forests which were not only the wealthy natural resources but the only source to keep the environment protected.

source:http://www.namasthetelangaana.com/En...ntentId=134607

[Gudavalli]

Tirupati temple to keep laddu patent

The Venkateswara temple in Andhra Pradesh, India’s richest temple, Monday scored a sweet legal victory: the Geographical Indications Registry upheld its claim of a patent over the famous Tirupati laddu.

The laddu, which is offered as prasad, was granted a Geographical Indicator (GI) tag in September 2009 — the tag ensures a product becomes synonymous with a geographical location — after Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) convinced the Registry that the laddu was unique in its “preparation, quality and reputation”.

But, owing to the growing demand, unscrupulous elements, including hawkers, were selling their preparations as Tirupati laddu. Granting it GI tag, TTD argued, would curb the problem as violating GI laws invites punishment.

The Registry’s order granting the GI tag was, however, challenged by R S Praveen Raj, a scientist with CSIR-NIIST, Thiruvananthapuram, and an intellectual property rights activist.

The tag, he contended, is meant to benefit local producers and act as an indicator of the geographical origin of the product. Thus, everyone from Tirupati has the right to use GI tag as long as their laddus are prepared in Tirupati and have the same delicacy and features as the laddu prepared by TTD.

On Monday Chinnaraja G Naidu — Assistant Registrar of Trade Marks and GI, Chennai — issued the verdict, upholding TTD’s claim and fined Raj Rs 10,000.

[Gudavalli]

AP to buy additional power up to May

HYDERABAD, AUG. 5:
Utilities in Andhra Pradesh have finalised orders to procure about 1,200 MW more power every month beginning August 2012 up to May 2013.

They have finalised orders for additional procurement of 12,706 MW of power up to May 2013, according to Andhra Pradesh Energy Coordination Cell.

The power will be procured from PTC, NETS, GMR, RETL, JSWPTC, among others.

This purchase is part of the State’s efforts to bridge the demand-supply gap. The power generation from existing power plants has dropped due to inadequate natural gas supply, and hydel generation has dwindled due to poor reservoir levels.

According to a statement, Mrutunjay Sahoo has assumed charge as the Principal Secretary of Energy, Andhra Pradesh from Dinesh Kumar. Sahoo served as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Power, Government of India, earlier.

The power utilities stated that the focus is on reducing the transmission and distribution losses from 16.7 per cent to below 15 per cent. The Generation Corporation of Andhra Pradesh has planned to add a generation capacity of about 5500 mw during the XII Plan

GAS SUPPLY

Natural gas supply to power plants in Andhra Pradesh has been cut by 2 million standard cubic meters a day, leading to a power generation loss of 400 mw capacity.

The Centre has decided to divert gas to Ratnagiri power according to the decision taken by the Empowered Group of Ministers. Andhra Pradesh is receiving low supplies for its gas plants and this cut will be a big blow, according to G. Srinivasa Rao, AP Minister for Infrastructure.

[Gudavalli]

24 gold medals to be awarded

[Gudavalli]

Andhra heralds low-cost drugs era

If all goes well, the Andhra Pradesh government would usher in a low-cost drugs regime to make affordable medicines available to all. Initial estimates peg the cost of drugs administered for various ailments costing anywhere between 30% and 84 % less compared to the branded drugs available in the market today.

Taking up the task of popularising generic drugs in the state, the AP Health, Medical Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation (APHMH&IDC) is in the process of identifying the drugs and their suppliers. Instead of depending on the conventional druggists and chemists, the state government, through the corporation, also plans to set up its own chain of outlets under the brand Jeevandhara.

“It is important to make drugs available to all and at affordable prices. Though there are thousands of companies manufacturing a variety of drugs, the branded drugs are making the cost of medication unaffordable to many,” a senior official dealing with the process said.

For now, the state government is believed to have identified about 350 drugs to be sold through the outlets and the process of setting up the outlets too is being kicked off while negotiations with suppliers is said to be at an advanced stage.

After developing a drug, the drug manufacturers tend to brand them and claim exclusivity either in the combination of chemicals that go into the drug or the process adopted to manufacture the drug. This exclusivity and the branding tend to make drugs expensive. However, the same drugs can be manufactured by others too and sold without any brand. These drugs are called generic drugs and are expected to cost less compared to the branded drugs.

“The focus is primarily on ailments like blood pressure, diabetes and normal fever. Most of the drugs identified so far for genericisation fall into these therapeutic segments and the effort is to make them available to all at low cost,” the official said.
In fact, several nations, including the US, have started promoting generic drugs with an intention of bringing down the cost of drugs.
The estimates show that on genericisation of a drug, the cost tends to come down as much as 95 per cent compared to a branded drug.

According to the officials, several drug majors, including Ranbaxy, Cipla and Mankind, have evinced interest in participating in the process and supplying generic drugs to the Jeevandhara outlets.
For now, the government is keen on developing a proof of concept for the model by setting up the outlets at government hospitals across the state. The rollout would happen in phases.

In fact, the government is planning to link the setting up of outlets to the government-promoted employment programme by roping in the unemployed to man the outlets.

“Most of the drugs are sold in the market with the patients spending out of their pockets. There is no formal insurance system to cover the cost of the drugs though the procedures are taken care of by the insurance companies in most cases. The AP government has already implemented a group insurance scheme called Arogya Sree for the people below poverty line and various procedures are done free of cost. But, even after the procedure, the cost of drugs is becoming a major hurdle in providing complete treatment. The genericisation would reduce the burden on the patients and help them continue the prescribed course after the procedure,” the official said.

[Gudavalli]

Andhra Pradesh boy bags US varsity’s top scholarship

Andhra boy Anurag Gogineni has become the proud recipient of full scholarship from University of Cincinnati, which would enable him to pursue under graduate programme at the prestigious institution.

The review committee for the scholarship at the university picked Anurag over 1,300 applicants for the highest level of financial reward given to students pursuing undergraduate programme at the university for his exceptional academic and extra curricular activities.

Starting this month, Anurag would begin his Bachelors programme at the university. The total scholarship amount of $100,000 (roughly Rs 56 lakh) will be awarded as $25,000 per semester.

The university awards a total sum of $1 million for students applying to its international undergraduate programmes.

“UC has a great business school, one of the best campuses according to popular rankings, well developed business leadership programs, and ample scholarships. It offers excellent placements & an enriching co-op programme,” Anurag said of Cincinnati.

Anurag has also been admitted to the highly selective Kolodzik Business Scholar’s programme at the university, enabling him to have a customized academic programme with opportunities to work with prestigious global brands like Proctor & Gamble
“This fall, the programs I'm looking most eagerly at are, University Honors, Kolodzik
Business Scholars, and professional fraternities like Alpha Kappa Pai and Delta Sigma Pi.
I'm very happy that I have chosen UC as my destination this fall”, he added.

UC, ranked among the top tier of the Best National Universities by the US News and World Report in August 2011 is a public research university with an enrolment of more than 42,000 students. It offers students a balance of educational excellence and real-world experience.

Jonathan Weller, Director of UC’s International Admissions said, “The selection of candidates for the coveted scholarship was significant as it involved thorough reviewing of numerous entries which came in. We have carefully chosen the most deserving candidate.”

[Gudavalli]

Decision on gas supply to A.P. soon

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday assured a high level delegation from Andhra Pradesh, led by Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, that he would look into the State’s demand for increased allocation of gas to the power units. He would hold consultations with the Minister concerned and the officials on Tuesday and take a decision.

The empowered group of Ministers in the Union Cabinet decided to allot 2 MMSCMD to Ratnagiri power project in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh is claiming the variable cost of Reliance/ONGC gas to the State was Rs.2.10 a unit, compared to RLNG, whose variable cost when landing worked out to Rs.9.06 per unit.

The delegation told the Prime Minister that at least 14 units of the gas-based power plants had shut down in Andhra Pradesh following cut in gas supply and there was a loss of 1,174 MW of power.

The delegation also called on Power Minister Veerappa Moily and Defence Minister A.K. Antony.

Rajya Sabha member V. Hanumantha Rao told the Prime Minister that the Centre’s decision to divert gas had forced “lakhs of small industries” to close shops in Andhra Pradesh.

Peddapally Lok Sabha member G. Vivekanand urged Dr. Singh to make sure there was no reduction of gas to the urea manufacturing industries.

Earlier, the Chief Minister also called on President Pranab Mukherjee.

The delegation was joined, among others, by Union Ministers M.M. Pallam Raju, Panabaka Lakshmi, D. Purandeswari, former union minister T. Subbarami Reddy, A.P. Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah and MPs from both the Houses of Parliament.

[Gudavalli]

Entrepreneurship key to success: CII chief

‘Students from reputed B-schools are opting for such ventures, even if it means taking a risk’

Entrepreneurship and courage are key to progress and prosperity, CII Chairman, Vizag Zone and Director (Commercial), RINL T.K. Chand has said.

Addressing the second State-level students convention organised by Computer Society of India (CSI) and Dadi Institute of Engineering and Technology on Monday, he said that civilisation would have remained in caves if the ancient men would not have dared to come out.

Invention of the wheel put civilisation on the move. In medieval times, it was the invention of electricity that provided energy that provided a quantum leap. In present times computers, followed by micro-chips are speeding up progress like never before, he stated.

“In all these, it is entrepreneurship and risk-taking behaviour that played the pivotal role,” he said and elaborated that in the US and even in China, such behaviour was more pronounced and comes at a premium. Since economic reforms, Indian youth had started catching up. Now, students from reputed B-schools were opting for entrepreneurial ventures, even if it meant risk-taking, he pointed out.

Mr. Chand, who is the vice-chairman of CSI, while dwelling on the state of economy, indicated that good days were ahead. He said India was now the third largest economy next to the US and China. A structural transformation was taking place in economy with service sector contributing a chunk in GDP.

In 1950, the contribution of agriculture, industry and service sectors in GDP were 57, 13 and 30 per cent. Now it is respectively 16, 25 and 59 per cent. Contribution of service sector had almost doubled. Compared with China, where growth model had been led by industries, in India it seems service sector was leading the growth, he said.

Ideal model

As India has a large population, he advocated industry-service-led model of growth. In service sector, IT and IT enabled services would be in front and there could not be any saturation in ITES as apprehended.

‘Big boost’

“It will be an ever-growing sector with ever-increasing innovative technology in the field like micro-chip, nano technology, cloud computing and manufacturing system execution. Mr. Chand informed that CII, Vizag Zone was going to organise college cluster-industry-institution interaction to give a big boost to knowledge economy.