Telangana stir pushes Andhra economy to the brink

Andhra Pradesh economy is being badly hurt by the ongoing and frequently violent agitation for a separate Telangana state, chief minister K Rosaiah said in the state capital of Hyderabad on Tuesday.

The chief minister was addressing a hurriedly-called late evening press conference after meeting with industry representatives to prevent a forthcoming Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) conference being shifted to Chennai. Rosaiah said the agitations and counter-agitations have begun to take their toll, with many industrial sectors reporting heavy losses due to shutdowns.

Prospective investors, too, are having second thoughts. "We are also losing investments. While some companies are already looking at other states to set up units, others are adopting a wait-and-watch policy," Rosaiah said.

The biggest losers are the pharmaceuticals and bulk drug manufacturing units, which have lost over Rs500 crore in the last few days. This industry caters mainly to the African markets, supplying 90 per cent of their requirements. But exports have now come to a standstill, and stocks are piling up in the godowns.

Rosaiah said many other industries, including IT/ITeS, have been badly affected. Meanwhile, there are reports that FICCI, another industry body, has also decided to shift its conference from Hyderabad to Chennai.

M Narasimha Rao, centre head, Infosys Hyderabad, and president of the Hyderabad Software Exporters' Association, earlier said, "any investor or client will look at Hyderabad only if there is a possibility of workflow round the clock. We can't lose any more working hours, and some may look at competing centres."