Hyderabad: Nara Chandrababu Naidu, is back as Chief Minister of new Andhra Pradesh. The swearing-in ceremony, a mega event with the massive invitees’ list includes India’s top-notch businessmen, bankers, Union ministers, chief ministers of other states, luminaries from the BJP and several film stars.
Not to forget Mr Naidu’s favourite firm — Microsoft! News is that Mr Naidu personally invited Satya Nadella, the Microsoft boss, to attend his swearing-in ceremony but the latter declined, saying he has many pressing assignments that day and wished Mr Naidu all the very best. Mr Nadella, though, is likely to visit India later this year and will then surely meet Mr Naidu. “It has been confirmed that Mr Nadella will visit the state sometime before the end of the year. His PR team is just working out the details and we’re just months away from getting more information on the visit,” reveals a Microsoft insider.
Naidu’s priority is IT
Information Technology has always been Mr Naidu’s pet project. During his earlier stint as CM, his plan involved roping in Microsoft — at the time, the largest technology company on the planet. He would travel to Redmond, Washington (Microsoft HQ) for a series of presentations, in front of none other than Mr Bill Gates. So impressed was Mr Gates with Mr Naidu’s slides that the boss kept his promise of investment and later set up the biggest Microsoft office, outside of America, right here in Hyderabad.
“It was Mr Naidu’s ability to sell,” adds the analyst. “Soon, other IT giants followed… and slowly, Hyderabad turned into what it is now.” But the Universe works in mysterious ways. Mr Naidu’s election year has seen several changes within Microsoft too and guess who’s heading the company now — a man from here! “It’s IT’s Bollywood twist. Look at the way it has played out for Mr Naidu. He’s been pushing IT for years and now, a Hyderabadi has become the boss at Microsoft — this is opportunity and knowing Mr Naidu, he would’ve definitely made that phone call,” believes a top executive from an IT firm in Hyderabad. So new Andhra Pradesh with Mr Naidu at the helm will surely see great development in the IT sector.
