The other day, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy called for a Press Meet and tried to claim credit for bringing Google to Vishakapatnam.
Besides that, he also went on to say that Hyderabad IT is all about his father, YSR, and KCR, and Chandrababu Naidu is claiming undue credit.
Jagan Mohan Reddy said the IT Exports during Chandrababu Naidu‘s regime were just 5,400 Crores, and YSR took it to 37,000 Crores and KCR to over Two Lakh Crores.
His logic is that 5,400 Crore is nothing when compared to Two Lakh Crore.
Yes, going by numbers, Two Lakh is much higher than 5,400. That is something even a second-class kid would agree. But the ground reality is different.
The IT Exports in Hyderabad by 1996 were less than 100 crores. Except for some random entrepreneurs, there is nothing significant in the IT Space of Hyderabad.
From there, Naidu took to 5,400 Crores. He built an IT ecosystem in Hyderabad by bringing big names like Microsoft, Oracle, WIPRO, Infosys, Deloitte, L&T, ISB, etc.
These companies helped position Hyderabad as India’s second-largest IT exporter by 2004, with HITEC City generating over 100,000 jobs by the end of Naidu’s term.
It was during Naidu’s tenure, he liberally allowed Engineering Colleges and encouraged Students to pursue those courses, which allowed an extensive supply of Talent Pool.
He also focused on the infrastructure development in Hyderabad to please the international companies. The International Airport and the Outer Ring Road were planned as well.
All that YSR and KCR did was to ensure continuity, which made Hyderabad the Growth Engine of Telangana.
Hyderabad was lucky that the subsequent Chief Ministers did not try to restrict it like how Jagan Mohan Reddy did to Amaravati.
Whenever something big happens, it is always the difficult baby steps that are important. Naidu ensured Hyderabad took those first steps. And from there, the city was on autopilot mode.
That autopilot mode ensured the city did not suffer the political instability that followed after YSR’s Death. The City did not suffer even though Rosaiah and Kiran Kumar Reddy did not do anything specifically for Hyderabad.
The City remains the same even though the current Chief Minister, Revanth Reddy’s Priorities were different.
Naidu was responsible for that initial thrust and the luxury of having the Auto Pilot Facility.
Naidu getting the major credit for Hyderabad IT is not a Political Talk. Naidu did not get the credit because he asked for it, and neither Jagan can deny it.
The Industry majors talk about it on every occasion.
