Southern States - Andhra Pradesh   

Naidu to woo Formula One

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD SEPT. 3. The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, said today that his Government was "on the track" in attracting Formula One here on a permanent basis.

Mr. Naidu will watch the Italian Grand Prix when he visits Milan on September 13 and 14 and try to hardsell Andhra Pradesh with the organisers of Formula One car racing. On top of his agenda in Milan is a meeting with Bernie Ecclestone, Chairman of the Formula One Holdings, and other executives of the company.

Expressing confidence of bagging the project, the Chief Minister said the races would provide direct and indirect employment to nearly 75,000 people. It would also give a big boost to tourism and the hotel industry, as the participants, crews and the organisers would require 3,000 rooms. Taking the foreign tourist inflow into account, the total requirement of hotel rooms would be above 7,000.

Mr. Naidu is also scheduled to visit Israel on his way back from Italy to study the progress made by that country in agriculture by using plastic irrigation. As per a tentative programme, the Chief Minister and his delegation will be in Israel from September 15 to 17.

Other plans

Mr. Naidu, who was addressing a press conference, unveiled a number of other plans to firmly place Hyderabad on the international map. Among them is the construction of a huge convention centre by a Dubai-based company, EMMAR Properties, somewhere in Madhapur, with a capacity to seat over 7,000 people.

The Government of India is expected to subsidise this project in tune with its new policy of encouraging such auditoria. The centre, which would be ready within 12 to 18 months' time, would provide a golf course and villas.

Welcoming the increasing interest in the State by foreign investors, he said another Dubai-based company was a partner in the consortium which had bid for developing the Gangavaram sea-port in Visakhapatnam. The international airline, Emirates, which was operating eight flights a week from Hyderabad, was planning to introduce some more to Singapore.

The popular Singapore-based retail chain, Mustafa, was keen to locate a mall in Hyderabad. Reuters, the international news agency, had also expressed interest in setting up an office here.

Mr. Naidu said that a number of satellite townships would come up in the vicinity of Hyderabad with the newly-established Multi-Modal Transport System and the proposed Metro Railway serving as vital links. A township would be developed at Kukatpally by a Malaysian firm and another near the proposed international airport in addition to two projects now underway, including one funded by a Singapore firm.

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