Will Brand Andhra Pradesh Be A Casualty? – Prof.K.Nageshwar

As another minister in Kiran Kumar Reddy cabinet, Information Technology minister Ponnala Laxmaiah is interrogated by the CBI, uncomfortable questions are being raised about the impact of this on Brand Andhra Pradesh. After all, so many senior ministers being summoned for interrogation and one of them, Excise minister Mopidevi Venkataramana, even taken into custody, is not a good sign for any government.

Will it affect the flow of investment into Andhra Pradesh? Will industrialists shy away from doing business here and move to other investor-friendly states, like say Gujarat or Tamilnadu? Karnataka, thanks to its political instability, has already lost out in terms of investments.

I would think not. Industrialists know how to work in a corrupt set-up as well. Yes, they would naturally prefer if the men and women in the political establishment are good people and honest but if they are not, they know how to deal with the bad eggs.

Remember, capital does not look for morality, it looks only for profitability. That is the bottomline. We are seeing in the Jagan disproportionate assets and EMAAR scam, a number of industrialists are also involved.

Just like in the case of Satyam, post the Ramalinga Raju expose, the current developments will attract a bad name globally for Andhra Pradesh. But I believe investment will not be affected. After all, people do business with China despite reservations with its Communist ideology. What matters to them at the end of the day is China’s capitalist orientation.

This Article is Originally Written for the South Reports