Honourable Minister of IT&C, Andhra Pradesh, India's visit to Detroit

This year I became member of Detroit Telugu Association (DTA) and started getting involved with programs and events.

On Sunday May 13th at wee hours at night Srinivas Koneru sent an invite with the following:
Sri. Damodar Reddy Ramireddy, Minister for Information Technology & Communications, Government of Andhra Pradesh (AP) will be in town (Detroit) on Monday, May 14, 2007. You are invited to attend a reception hosted in his honor by India League Association (ILA).
Date & Time : Monday, May 14, 2007 7:00 PM

Sent my confirmation immediately though it is a short notice. Most events notified at least two weeks in advance. The venue is about 40 miles and in peak hours (heavy traffic) would take anywhere between sixty to ninty minutes.

I started at 6:20 PM and reached at 7:40 PM and the meeting just got started with introductions.

About fifty plus people are present and glad to see some familiar faces and felt homely.
After introductions, felicitations and other formalities, it is time for the Honourable minister to address the audience.

His speech was good and he impressed the crowd very well. Though he is new to the ministry, he answered the questions with balance and knowledgeably.


Key points from speech are:
AP Government will continue to encourage IT and attend to Agriculture as this government felt that this sector was neglected in last few years.
Reviewed the progress of Fabcity plans and mentioned that his meetings with several semi-conductor CEOs from Silicon Valley in USA were very encouraging.
Measures are taken to bring IT more towards Class B cities.
Provide quality education and training through Jawahar Knowledge centers.
New incentives and packages for setting up IT shops in Visakhapatnam, Warangal, Kakinada, Vijayawada and Tirupati.
Also setting up IT Hubs at Cuddapah, Kurnool, Anantapur, Nalgonda and Vizianagarm.
Invited the Michigan based companies to invest in Andhra Pradesh.
Mentioned his fruitful meetings with his counterparts in Michigan state government.
Offered assistance to all the NRIs and informed allocation of special meeting time every Monday and Tuesday from 3:00 PM onwards for NRIs (Non-Resident Indians) interested in setting up IT shop in Andhra Pradesh.


Non-IT highlights mentioned are as follows:
International airport at Hyderabad
Repair works of Visakhapatnam Airport to complete in July 2007.

On his personal note, he was truly delighted to meet his childhood friend after forty years.

Overall a great speech and was well received by audience.