AP Posts 13.44% Growth in Q1, Highest in India

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh has registered a 13.44 per cent growth rate in the first quarter of the present fiscal year, the highest in the country, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu stated on Thursday, setting a target of 15–20 per cent growth and calling upon district collectors to shift their focus from reviews to results.

Addressing the eighth Collectors’ Conference at the Secretariat, Naidu said collectors must be proactive, develop leadership qualities and adopt a hybrid model of new-age governance to win people’s confidence. “Now it is time for results, not reviews,” he said, stressing that the entire administration should work with a “one state, one vision, one mission” mindset towards Swarnandhra.

He said the government would develop a strategy to train collectors in leadership skills and urged them to resolve people’s problems on the spot by breaking the mould of outdated systems. Field visits should receive priority so that officials understand ground realities.

Referring to deficient rainfall and the resulting water crisis, Naidu directed collectors to prepare plans for water security for farmers and the public. He called for zero tolerance to problems in drinking water supply.

The chief minister said Action Taken Reports on decisions taken at previous collectors’ conferences would henceforth be mandatory. Officials, he said, should also take the lead in countering fake campaigns and respond promptly whenever misinformation is spread. Deep-tech governance could deliver unprecedented results.

Technology-enabled systems such as Data Lake and AWARE should speed up decision-making and improve service delivery, he stressed.

Naidu said the government had completed the Handri-Neeva, Veligonda Phase-I, Polavaram Left Canal and Bhogapuram international airport projects. The Polavaram project, he said, would be dedicated to the nation by March 2027.

Referring to an article describing his transition from “CEO to Waterman”, he said geographical imbalances had left some regions facing water stress. Interlinking the Godavari, Cauvery, Mahanadi and Ganga and creating a national water grid could make India’s development unstoppable, he said.

Naidu asked collectors to identify district growth engines and new sources of wealth and income.

Every district, he said, should identify its top 25 projects, while each constituency must select 10–15 priority projects. He cited Konaseema, known for coconut and paddy, as an example of a region that needed new income avenues, while Eluru had emerged as a top-performing district through palm oil plantations.

Ministers, officials and collectors should compete in delivering services and winning public confidence, he said.

On revenue reforms, Naidu said land-related disputes dating back more than 120 years were being resolved. In Amalapuram, a decision was taken on ground-rent lands dating to 1908 and pattas were issued to 1,416 beneficiaries. Andhra Pradesh, he said, would become a land-dispute-free state by 2027.

On the DSC-2025 controversy, the CM asserted that there were no irregularities and said sports-quota appointments were made strictly according to rules. He praised two women officials for their effective countering of “misinformation” spread by the opposition.