N. Chandrababu Naidu

Naidu became a Congress (I) member of the Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly (MLA) for Chandragiri constituency in 1978. The party's 20% quota for youth to run for the office was beneficial for him. Not long afterwards, Naidu was appointed as the technical education and cinematography minister in T. Anjaiah's government at the age of 28. He was the youngest minister in the Congress (I) cabinet.[20]

As the cinematography minister, Naidu came in contact with N. T. Rama Rao, a popular film star in Telugu cinema. In 1980, he married Bhuvaneswari, Rao's second daughter.[21]

Naidu demonstrated his political skills in August 1984, when Nadendla Bhaskara Rao staged a coup against N. T. Rama Rao. He rallied the TDP MLAs together and paraded them before the President of India. N. T. Rama Rao was reinstated as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh 31 days later. Impressed with his son-in-law's manoeuvre, Rao appointed Naidu as the General Secretary of the party and he began playing an important role in the TDP after Nadendla Rao's coup attempt. Later, when N. T. Rama Rao married Lakshmi Parvathi, Naidu took over the TDP legislative party predicting the problems in the party and became the Chief Minister of united Andhra Pradesh.[22]

In the 1989 assembly election, Naidu contested from Kuppam and won by 5,000 votes.[23] INC, however, had regained power in the election so Naidu had to sit in the opposition. He served as a coordinator of the TDP, in which capacity he effectively handled the party's role of the main opposition in the assembly which won him wide appreciation from both the party and the public. Naidu's role during this phase, both inside the Legislative Assembly and outside, was a critical factor for the subsequent success of the party at the hustings.[23]

Naidu speaking with workers in a textile factory

The Telugu Desam Party, led by Naidu, won a majority in the state legislature: 185 of 294 seats in the Assembly and 29 of 42 at the parliament in the 1999 general election, making it the second-largest party in the BJP-led NDA coalition government.[26]

Janmabhoomi Programme

Naidu launched the Janmabhoomi (birthplace) Programme in February 1996. The main aim was to involve people in the reconstruction and revitalisation of the society. The programme works at a micro level, planning to identify people-represented problems through Gram Sabha discussions by regional officers, especially in villages, and to send project proposals for the government to work on. The core concentrated areas are community work, primary school education, drinking water, health and hospitals, family welfare, and environmental protection through watershed and joint forest management activities.[27]

From 1997 onward, the 'Clean and Green Campaign' was initiated where school students and teachers participated in institutional and household plantation with government employees. A total of 46 million trees in the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh state were planted. About 3,906,835 people participated in sanitation work, with 1,438,850 persons engaged to remove garbage and 40,921,447 people participated in health awareness rallies. The Naidu idea was to make every habitation and municipal ward 'clean and green' and it was one of the largest and most successful events organised by his government.[28]

His government started the "self help groups" (SHG) such as water user associations, Vanasamrakshana Samities, Rythu Mithra Groups, CMEY Groups, School Education Committees, and promoted the 'Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas' (DWCRA) where each group had 15-20 female members and chose a leader who conducted group meetings. The main purpose was to offer microfinance through government and bank-linkage that would help rural women to start income generating activities, know about their rights, and the importance of education. The Naidu government distributed two lakh (two-hundred-thousand) bicycles to the girls who joined the government high schools as part of women empowerment initiative and launched the Deepam scheme in 1999 to reduce dependence on forest firewood, and to provide gas connections to poor rural members of the DWCRA groups and families below the poverty line.[29][30]

Dial your Chief minister

Prajalato Mukhyamantri (Chief Minister with People) Phone is a programme that encourages open dialogue between the chief minister and the common people of Andhra Pradesh state. There is a live broadcast every Monday, on both Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR) where Naidu interacts with the callers directly to know their issues and address them. The live show is conducted in two sessions: in the first session, there is a discussion with vice-chancellors, academicians, and writers and in the second session, there is interaction with the people. Naidu was described as "a leader, who mingled with the masses after shedding his official status and time as Chief Minister." The innovative program found acceptance in the country's information and broadcasting systems.[31]

Rythu Bazaar (farmers market)

Rythu Bazaar was launched by Naidu on 26 January 1999 with the objective to control the skyrocketing prices of fruits and vegetables. Under this program, farmers were encouraged to sell their produce directly to the consumers and in the process, eliminate the middleman. In the first phase itself, the program succeeded and reached various towns. Prices were down by 70 to 75 percent, and it benefited both the farmers and the direct consumers.[32]

E-governance

With the intention of bringing e-governance to the citizens, Naidu launched e-Seva centers in 2001 for paperless and speedy delivery of results to applicants. These e-Seva centers were one-stop solutions providing all government information and services online such as utility bills, banking services, issuing birth and death certificates, written test for drivers licence, government orders, and APSRTC tours and travel operators booking.[33] The government introduced an outsourcing employee system where government-related services are done under a contract agreement and after a certain time, they are declared as permanent government employees.[34]

Vision 2020

In 1999, Naidu produced a vision statement called "Andhra Pradesh Vision 2020" that outlined various goals and objectives to be achieved by 2020. It was prepared in collaboration with US consultants, McKinsey & Company, who proposed the following:[35]

• Poverty must be eradicated. Support the elderly and children, those who really need help.
• The people should be given the opportunity to live a healthy life along with practice and income.
• Small families should be encouraged for a healthy and prosperous society.
• Provide a happy life for little girls. They should be given the opportunity to use their energy 100 percent.
• Safeguard its environment and make its cities and villages clean, green and safe to live in.
• Enable small entrepreneurs and young professionals to make startups and build thriving industries and services business.
• Women and girls need to be empowered and supported to compete equally with men in society and in the economy.
• People should be provided with resources such as investments and infrastructure. These can transform their future.
• New techniques in agriculture, upmarket services, and innovations for quality produce should be promoted.
• The government should be transparent, accountable and responsive.
• The people's voice should be heard loud and clear during the rule.

After returning as Chief Minister in 2014, Naidu updated the document to version 2.0, titled Sunrise AP Vision 2029.[36][37]

Naidu greeting Bill Clinton in 2000

Other activities

For attracting global investments, a world class airport was required for Hyderabad city. Naidu called for a global tender under a public–private partnership for Shamshabad Greenfield international airport with a 5,495 acres of land already acquired by his government and in possession. Then after Naidu assigned the bid to the consortium Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao (GMR Group) and Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad in December 2002. The next successive Congress government of Andhra Pradesh, after the airport's completion, named it 'GMR Group - Rajiv Gandhi Hyderabad International Airport'.[38]

In 2000, both Bill Clinton (President of the United States) and Tony Blair (Prime Minister of the United Kingdom) visited Hyderabad and met with Naidu.[39] Bobby Ghosh of the American news magazine, Time commented, "In just five years, he has turned an impoverished, rural backwater place into India's new information-technology hub",[40] and the magazine named Naidu, 'South Asian of the Year'.[41]

Investment policy In way of investments and attractive incentives, the Naidu government won the honour of best tourism performing state with about 24% in all national tourist arrivals, record international aircraft movements, and occupancy raised by 100% in the same year. This led to employment generation direct and indirectly for 37.7 lakhs people raised by 12% in the hotel and hospitality industry, food and beverage services, recreation and entertainment, cabs and transportation, travel trade and booking services and bagged 6 tourism awards for excellence out of 14 categories at the national level.[42][43]

In November 1998, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then prime minister of India and Chandrababu Naidu inaugurated the HITEC City (nickanamed Cyberabad) by opening the Cyber Towers, a landmark building in Hyderabad.[44] In anticipation of the growth of technology in the future, his government also concentrated on providing infrastructure such as roads, safety and resilience, transportation, telecommunications, IT parks and five-star hotels for the delegates' meetings and accommodation and the HITEX International Convention and Exhibition Center.[45]

Cyber Towers at HITEC City, a landmark building in Hyderabad was inaugurated during Naidu's tenure in 1998

Naidu once coined the slogan "Bye-bye Bangalore, hello Hyderabad" to further this aim and his government allotted lands and laid the foundations for major IT parks such as L&T Infocity Ascendas Park, Cyber Gateway, Raheja Mindspace Madhapur IT Park, and CyberPearl IT Park[46] to partake in the IT industry boom. Naidu, at a press conference, discussed his plan to develop the state of Andhra Pradesh by making the major cities showpieces for foreign investment, especially in "key sectors such as information technology, biotechnology, healthcare, and various outsourcing services"[47] and gave a brief PowerPoint presentation to Bill Gates[48] that convinced him to establish Microsoft Corporation Research and Development (R&D) in Hyderabad, the company's second-largest research and development campus outside the United States, a significant milestone in Hyderabad's bid to become an information technology hub.[49]

In 2001, the Naidu government declared the creation of the Cyberabad Development Authority (CDA) as a special enclave for the location of IT firms, research institutions and allied services around the existing HITEC City area in Hyderabad. Spread over an area of 52 km2, in the western periphery of the city covering the townships of Madhapur, Gachibowli, Kondapur, Manikonda, and Nanakramguda, CDA CDA was conceived as a self-contained enclave providing premium infrastructure, such as gated residential housing, intelligent buildings, shopping malls, and transport facilities among others.[50]

According to several national and international surveys, Hyderabad became an IT Hotspot of India in 2002 and Hyderabad became ranked number one in the city competitiveness compared of major cities in India to attract businesses.[51] The economic reforms and new policy initiatives taken by the Naidu government in creating HITEC City provided a boost to Hyderabad's urbanisation and, with big tech industry jobs in hand, has increased consumer purchasing power, leading to massive real estate developments, gated residential apartments, food and restaurants, intelligent business offices, cinema, and shopping malls in the area[52] and Naidu's efforts to make HITEC City India's first and largest cybercity while today Cyberabad is a big technological project in Hyderabad, which emerged as the backbone of Telangana state's economy.[53]

Naidu in discussion with students as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh

in 1999, Naidu established the Pharma City, an original, state-of-the-art biotechnology park in the country to the north of Hyderabad and promoted Genome Valley[54][55] to leading multinational pharmaceutical companies like Novartis Pharma India, Shantha Biotechnics, Biocon, Biological E. Limited, Jupiter Biosciences, and also requested other global IT companies like IBM, Dell, HSBC, Oracle Corporation to move to Hyderabad, making presentations to global CEOs and convincing them to invest and establish offices in Hyderabad.[7][56]

Keeping in view the state's growing needs for Infrastructure, the Naidu government in 1996 proposed a new greenfield international airport at Shamshabad, 21 km southwest of Hyderabad's city centre.[57] To promote the planned development of the area around the international airport, the Naidu government declared a special development area and called it as Hyderabad Airport Development Authority (HADA).[58] Construction began in 2005 during the succeeding Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy's tenure and started operations in 2008 as Rajiv Gandhi International Airport.[59]

In 2003, Hyderabad Multi-Modal Transport System, which began construction in 2001,[60] was opened to the public under the Naidu Government.[61] A joint venture between the Government of Andhra Pradesh and the South Central Railway, The Phase-I was flagged off with the first MMTS train at Secunderabad railway station by the Deputy Prime Minister L. K. Advani[62] while Naidu inaugurated its second leg.[63] Over an operational length of 43 km, spanning 26 stations, the system operates over three major routes, Falaknuma–Lingampalli, Hyderabad–Falaknuma and Hyderabad–Lingampalli.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party and Jana Sena Party returned to power in Andhra Pradesh state, winning 102 seats out of 175 seats.[64] Naidu led the TDP to an outright majority. Naidu took oath as the first Chief Minister of the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh at Mangalagiri on the grounds of Acharya Nagarjuna University near Guntur.[65]

Foundation of Amaravati

The foundation for the city was laid at Uddandarayunipalem on 22 October 2015. The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, Naidu as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, the Vice-President of India and the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu; then Governor E. S. L. Narasimhan; the Japanese minister for economy trade and industry, Yōsuke Takagi; and the Singaporean Minister for Trade and Industry, S. Iswaran; laid the foundation for the city.[66]

Naidu during a meeting at Secretariat, Amaravati

At a summit, Naidu said his ambition was to make Amaravati one of the happiest cities, encompassing the highest standards of livability and infrastructure with a thriving economic environment.[67] Amaravati is based on trust and partnership with no single cash transaction between farmers and government in an agreement of returnable developed plots. It is the world's largest successful voluntary land pooling, with 27,956 farmers offering 33,920 acres within three months, launching the project. The Land Pooling Scheme is now widely acknowledged as a global best practice without any land agitation from local people taken by Naidu's government.[68]

Bike ambulances for tribal areas

Bike ambulances were launched by the Naidu government[69] to make medical care accessible to the remotest parts of the state where these vehicles transport patients who require emergency care from the interiors of the forest to roads, especially in areas inaccessible by regular ambulances.[70] This has been a boon in the Tribal Areas where the access by road is limited.[71][72]

Irrigation projects

Naidu during a trial run at Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Project, West Godavari district

Projects undertaken by the Government of Andhra Pradesh:

• Under Naidu's leadership, the government of AP completed the first Godavari-Krishna Rivers Inter-Linking Project in India on 15 September 2015.[73] It is named as Pavitra Sangam Ghat or The Pure Confluence which is the holy spot at Ibrahimpatnam, Krishna district where the Godavari river water is sent to Krishna river 174 km away. Water reached the ferry and flows to Prakasam barrage.[74]
• As Chief Minister Naidu has taken other prestigious and major project is the Godavari-Krishna-Penna three Rivers Inter-Linking and laid the foundation stone for the NTR Sagar Godavari-Penna Interlinking project at Nakerikallu in Guntur district on 26 November 2018[75] which will help provide water resources for all the areas of the four districts in Rayalaseema region with an estimated cost of Rs 83,796 crore and at once in interview Naidu mentioned if this biggest interlinking completed the water can be sent from Penna river to Chennai City, Tamil Nadu also which can be served for drinking water purposes[76]
• At Kurnool (Muchumarri) the Naidu government inaugurated the Muchumarri Lift irrigation scheme on 2 January 2017[77] which serves 6.25 lakh farming acres and drinking water to 33 lakh people covering the areas of Anantapur, Kadapa, Chittoor, Kurnool districts and released 474 cumecs from the Handri Neeva project to KC Canal and the scheme was proposed to pump water from 798 ft in the Srisailam reservoir.[78]
• On 13 November 1988 then CM N. T. Rama Rao laid the foundation for Pulichinthala(KL Rao Sagar) Project but it has delayed 30 years time to fully completed in Sep 2018 with full storage capacity reservoir until the Naidu government because of the concern reasons from environmental and forest-related Permissions and Naidu declared the other projects importance of Kandula Obulreddy Gundlakamma reservoir, Madakasira branch canal and Adavipalli reservoir as a multipurpose project serving irrigation needs, hydro power generation and flood control with new irrigation facility to 1.72 lakh acres for farmers of four coastal districts of West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur and Prakasam, Anathapuram (Madakasira), Chittoor (Adavipalli) and all these irrigation facilities combined will provide the water for 13 lakh acres land to be stabilised.[79][80]
• The Purushothapatnam Lift Irrigation First Phase Naidu has Inaugurated on 15 August 2017 with estimated budget of Rs.1638 Cr (1 & 2 phases) for lifting the godavari river water and will be used for the adjacent areas nearly 2.15 lakh acres land mainly covering Rajanagaram, Pithapuram, Peddapuram, Jaggampeta and Prattipadu for both farming and drinking water purposes and the second phase is launched on 5 January 2019[81] to designed for the purpose of serving the areas of East Godavari, Visakhapatnam and North Andhra districts[82][83] and another major foundation laid by Naidu the Chintalapudi Lift Irrigation scheme on 6 September 2017 is under construction project at 27.20 km upstream of Sir Aurthur Cotton Barrage at Dowlaiswaram to fetch 194.52 cu of water from river Godavari which can be served as both drinking water to 25.94 lacks population in human habitation areas and assured irrigation facilities to 480000 acres in upland area of West Godavari and Krishna districts[84]
• The Thotapalli Reservoir Irrigation Barrage was laid foundation on 6 November 2003 on river Nagavalli by Naidu as Combined Andhra Pradesh State Chief Minister at Vizianagaram Dist but the next ruling Congress government stopped the construction and again after 12 years, the Naidu government completed the project and inaugurated on 10 September 2015 while dedicated it to the nation and the left canal of the project covers the area for 1.32 lakh acres of fertile farmland in Srikakulam District[85]

The Naidu government launched a scale-out plan of Climate Resilient Zero Budget Natural Farming (CRZBNF) in 2018, with training provided to farmers through the Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (RySS), a not-for-profit organisation belongs to the government making Andhra Pradesh the first state to adopt natural farming in India while the plan is to make transition all the 6 million farms/farmers from the use of chemical fertilizers to Zero-Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) by 2024,[97] with considering of multiple objectives as every village will become a bio-village enhancing farmers welfare, consumer welfare and for the conservation of environment.

As Naidu declared if any farmers from the state would be rewarded with Rs 100 crore from the government of Andhra Pradesh[98] if they won Nobel prize in natural farming.[99][100]

Naidu delivered a keynote address at an event titled "Financing Sustainable Agriculture: Global Challenges and Opportunities", organised on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly. Naidu discussed the ZBNF program at the United Nations conference, starting his speech in Telugu and said it has been the most proud and unforgettable experience of his life. Naidu said that the state government has been encouraging ZBNF to reduce costs and risks in farming, more and safe, nutritious food, reverse migration to villages and enhance soil health to safeguard our collective future. He said microbial seed coating, bio-inoculants, cover crops, mulching, soil aeration, and zero chemicals will promote the living soil concept. He said a target was set to convert villages into bio-villages over a five-year period. The scale at which AP has implemented ZBNF has gathered praise and recognition internationally. He said that the zero budget farming will help to reach sustainable development goals.[101][102]

As part of this, Naidu attended the Sustainable Development Impact Summit organised by the World Economic Forum and Bloomberg Global Business Forum held in New York, 2018. Naidu, as Chief Minister, launched the findings of the project, "Accelerating Sustainable Production" in Andhra Pradesh and reiterated the state's commitment to achieving most of the SDGs by 2022. The report highlighted the progress achieved under the SDG framework in its first two years and pointed out areas that demand extra attention. The previous year's report about SDG's was also presented at the High-Level Political Forum, hosted at the United Nations headquarters, New York in July 2017.[103][104]

The CII organised the 22nd edition of CII Partnership Summit in 2016 with a partnership with the State Government of Andhra Pradesh, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and Ministry of Commerce and Industry at APIIC Ground, Harbour Park, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Chandrababu Naidu signed 331 memoranda of investment proposals worth Rs 4.78 lakh crore into Andhra Pradesh and suggested steps to promote exports. It is expected that these understandings produce more than 10 lakh jobs in the next five years in the state.[105] And in 2018 CII Summit approaching through innovative ways Naidu promote Sunrise Andhra Pradesh as the destination for business in India with attracting new investors as part of a summit with displaying the products that are manufactured in the State, including Kia cars, Foxconn cellphones, Apollo tyres, and others. "The exhibits have included everything that reflects the achievements, desires, and potential of the State.[106] Three Summits from 2016-2018 attracted delegates from 40 – 50 countries, witnessed cumulative participation of over 10,000 delegates, and served as the platform for execution of cumulative 1,437 MoUs with a committed investment of Rs 13.35 lakh crores (USD 200 billion) and committed employment of 24.60 lakhs (2.46 million).[107]

An approach with a people-first motto, the Naidu government strives to provide an agile and efficient public service delivery system benefiting nearly 50 million citizens in a 360-degree life cycle approach through its Real Time Governance(RTG) initiative. With the help of RTG, Andhra Pradesh can now swiftly resolve citizen grievances and monitor infrastructure projects, Crime and incidents, weather and climatic events across the state in real time, leveraging technology services. Keeping technology in its mind and citizen centricity in its heart, Real Time Governance is set to revolutionise governance in Andhra Pradesh, catalysing government operations to create a safer, more efficient and sustainable society. The Real Time Governance model is the most powerful and intellectual initiative by the Naidu government to make insightful decisions that vibrantly transform citizen services from pensions to street lights on/off time, that garnered global recognition and AP Real Time Governance facility has received Hitachi Transformation People's Choice Award.[108] And RTG is able to analyse big data sets operates from State Command and Communication Centre housed in the Secretariat Complex at Amaravati gathered from various data input sources from CC cameras, drones, biometric augmented technology and virtual reality, machine learning technology, Internet of Things (IoT), etc., adopting the most advanced technology of international standards for governance[109]

The new sports policy announced for the period 2017-22 by the Naidu Government with a mission to groom sports talent and initiated a unique programme named ‘Project Gandiva’ that helps nurture the young talent by training them as competitive sportsmen. The project was formally launched on 24 July 2018 at Vidyadharapuram in Vijayawada by Naidu and said ‘Project Gandiva’ to revolutionise sports culture in the State and government will select students of age between 10–16 years from village to State level, and provide them with international level facilities, infrastructure, and coaching.[110] Project Gandiva will ensure that every talent in the State of Andhra Pradesh is identified, nurtured and trained by international coaches. We will see Olympians rise from this sunrise State," Naidu said. Project Gandiva is a long-term athletic development programme designed by the State. As part of the policy, the talented sports persons will be picked up and groomed to compete at national and international events with winning medals and bring laurels to the State. For 2018-19, a long-term athletic development scheme under the programme was launched. The objective is to ensure that AP excels in sports in a span of 10 years from now. The project envisages that by 2021, the State should become number one in national athletics and by next year, the State should secure medals in Asian and Commonwealth Games. By 2024, State should represent Olympics and by 2028 Olympics.[111] Naidu laid the foundation stone for the construction of ‘Amaravati International Sports Complex’ and the sports complex is designed to be built in 8.9 acres with a budget of Rs 60 crore and would feature world-class infrastructure with high-end equipment for sportsmen in Vidyadharapuram[112]

On 12 October 2014 Cyclone Hudhud struck the east coast of India near Visakhapatnam (Vizag) with wall and roof collapses and uprooting of trees on roads, which was pounded by rains and galeforce winds at 170/180 km/h of speed causing devastating effect and makes it even difficult to travel and conduct rescue operations to the Vishakhapatnam with railway lines being badly damaged and airport services affected. At the time Naidu alerted officials infront the Cyclone Hudhud threat and reviewed the preparedness of the state in Disaster Management[113] while hands-on in Vizag, Naidu immediately shifted base from the capital of Hyderabad to the port town of Vizag to ensure his administration delivers[114] and worked from a Bus turned into the makeshift as War-Room, Office and Home[115] and directed the collectors and officials to set up relief camps and to evacuate people especially the tribals the first thing to do is minimise casualties from areas confirmed that have cyclone threat and make sure ready with stock up essential commodities for relief camps and serve the affected with providing food and he advised the officials to ensure that health camps have continuous power supply. The Naidu government issued an order deputing district officials, heads of departments and every government employee would be on duty until relief, restoration and rehabilitation works were fulfilled.[116] For Naidu, his biggest concern is that phone lines remain dead, placing communication limits for rescue and relief operations. He criticised telecom providers for lack of restoration even a couple of days after the cyclone and said his efficiency in disaster relief works has gone down by 50 percent because of the communication gap, adding that he is unable to engage with the disaster relief work force and people on the ground due to lack of connectivity and asked them to expedite reconnection of the network and to send continuous updates to people about the cyclone threat and SMS would be sent in Telugu to people.[117] This apart, officials have been directed to give updates about the cyclone through All India Radio (AIR). Naidu has utilised the Hyderabad National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) to use GIS, GPS and remote sensing instruments to detect the detrimental effects caused by Cyclone Hudhud in the region.[118] The NRSC employed geo-tagging to create a map of the damages, in order to facilitate the action of the national Disaster response forces (NDRF) deployed to provide support relief. Although precaution and mass evacuation plans have been implemented after NASA's cyclone alert on 8 October, the storm generated severe consequences, including property and live losses and communication systems' disruption. According to Andhra Pradesh's Revenue (Disaster Management) Department. a total of 2,48,004 people were affected by Hudhud, 61 persons were killed which also damaged 70 houses and left 34 animals dead, trees and hoardings, crop loss, damaged roads, bridges, reservoirs, tanks and railway lines and the Vizag airport roof was blown away while its communications satellite network collapsed, has suffered a loss of Rs.500 crore and 40,000 electricity poles were damaged and around 6,000 transformers damaged. Enormous damage happened to the agriculture sector, resulting in crop loss of Rs 948 crore in 2.38 lakh hectares and horticulture sector was also the worst hit with the loss estimated at Rs 1339.2 crore (87,984 ha) also including damage to the tune of Rs 6,136 crore to private industries and other Damages to Visakhapatnam Steel Plant at Rs 1,000 crore, Indian Navy Rs 2,000 crore, Andhra University Rs 300 crore were estimated.[119]

In three days, the Naidu government had evacuated 1,50,000 people and accommodated in 223 relief camps and 6,85,000 people had been provided food[120] and return the city to normalcy while restoration the power supply is the first priority with began erecting electric poles and transformers being laid brought in 500 trucks, 250 proclains and many gensets in hundreds from wherever they were available and moreover clearing thoroughfares of trees on roads and supply of essential commodities like food, milk and water tankers to households, ensure stock availability of petrol in filling stations and revived of Public Transportation services, cell phone towers and internet connectivity were almost restored, after all it was devastated by the cyclone fury. According to Naidu, the exact financial loss caused by Cyclone Hudhud is calculated and estimates indicate that it up to Rs 70,000 crore[121] and central government announced the interim aid of 1000 crore for operations.[122] Naidu said in an interview he will be in Vizag till he is satisfied about a job accomplished and noted the extent of the damage...we cannot visualise, imagine, assess it but the government was able to reduce loss of life due to the precautionary measures taken proactive and timely action and after to re-stabilize their livelihood[123]

Following Cyclone Hudhud, the next cyclone that battered the north-east coastal Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts of Andhra Pradesh state was Cyclone Titli, leaving as many as 2.25 lakh families in about 18 mandals on 11 October 2018, triggering gales of 120 kilometres per hour (75 mph) causing extensive damage. As per official estimations, 9.07 lakh people, in 202 villages, in 18 mandals were affected due to the cyclone. About 8,962 houses were damaged, 290 kilometres (180 mi) of roads were destroyed, 386 trees fell and 80 minor irrigation projects and tanks were damaged.[124] Power supply was affected in six towns and 319 villages. The cell phone networks of BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited), and private telecom companies were affected, sending communications out for two day. Horticulture was hit with damages to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore followed by agriculture (Rs 800 crore).[125] Naidu acted as soon as the cyclone warning was received by alerting the administration to prepare for the calamity and was in constant touch with officials of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Real-Time Governance and alerted the Collectors of both Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam districts.[126] The Naidu government appealed to people in the cyclone-affected villages to be alert to prevent loss of life and directed the officials to take up relief and rehabilitation works in the affected regions and issued immediate orders for necessary assistance to the villagers and farmers who suffered severe losses. 25 kilograms (55 lb) rice was provided to the families and 50 kilograms (110 lb) to the families of the fishermen community. Additionally, dal, palm oil, potatoes, onions and sugar were distributed to families, and milk was made available to children in cyclone-affected regions. Rs. 5 lakh was announced as an ex gratia grant to family members of 8 persons killed by the cyclone, and that asbestos sheets would be distributed free of cost to fishermen to help with the repairing of their houses, also to pay Rs 2 lakh for the fisheremen who lost their boats. Compensation will be Rs 6 lakh for motor boats and Rs 10,000 for each net. Aqua farmers will receive Rs 30,000 compensation per hectare to recover from the damage. 100 Deputy Collectors were pressed into service to take part in cyclone relief operations and with a nodal officer appointed in-charge of each mandal to supervise relief operations. More than 50% of the power supply was restored by the next day. Naidu addressed people at Lollaputtuga, Balliputtuga, Patavaraka, Manikyaputtuga, Borivanka, and Sompeta and interacted with them on the relief measures while feedback was collected from people to know whether they received water and food and restoration of power supply was assured.[127] The Real Time Governance Society (RGTS) correctly forecast the course of Cyclone Titli in the coastal region of Srikakulam district above Kalingapatnam. The cyclone made its landfall at Pallesarathi village, Vajrapukothuru Mandal on the night of 11 October 2018. The clear prediction helped in communicating with the local agencies to evacuate the coastal population to safe places in time and taking other preparatory measures while passing the communication to fisherman to remain off the sea for fishing due to the cyclone and rough sea. All these measures by RTGS ensured that the number of casualties due to Cyclone Titli remained low. Though protective measures were taken, there was still eight people killed, seven in Srikakulam district and one in Vizianagaram, whereas Titli claimed more than 62 lives in Odisha State.[128]

Naidu wrote two letters stating the total damage assessment to the central government to declare Cyclone Titli as a national calamity, while demanding Rs 1200 crore as interim relief.[129] He also requested the central government to depute teams to assess damage from the cyclone. Naidu expressed disappointment at the lukewarm response from the central government despite large-scale damage in Andhra Pradesh from the cyclone.[130]

Due to the previous experience with Cyclone Titli, the Naidu government responded to the third cyclone using RTGS and was able to deftly handle Cyclone Phethai, which hit central coastal Andhra Pradesh near Kakinada on 17 December 2018.[131] RTGS monitored the entire track of Cyclone Phethai right from its inception as a low-pressure system 1400 south-east of Bay of Bengal to the time it formed into a depression, deep depression and severe cyclone until it made landfall off AP Coast between Kakinada and Yanam. Understanding the movement of the cyclone, RTGS alerted the rural departments in central districts especially Guntur, Krishna, East and West Godavari and up to Visakhapatnam to further advise farmers to quickly complete harvesting of their standing crops. This ensured more than 30,000 hectares of Paddy crops were saved from lodging and inundation due to the cyclone and Fishermen were alerted one week before Landfall not to venture into the sea considering a forecast of rough sea and tidal waves. There was not even a single casualty of fishermen during the cyclone. RTGS alerted the fisheries department, local administrations, local communities, village functionaries of the impending storm through IVRS calls advising them to stay off the sea. Based on RTGS recommendation, communication was also sent to fishermen who went into the sea to return. Nearly 350 vessels were made to return before the cyclone. There was a case of four boats that went deep into the sea that could not be communicated using mobile phones. RTGS utilised the FM radio and sent advisories to these vessels naming their villages asking them to immediately return. The Naidu government also pressed helicopter operations, taking the support of the navy to identify the four vessels carrying 26 fishermen that drifted off from East Godavari[132] and one casualty were reported and advisories were also sent to the citizens of vulnerable mandals along the coast where the cyclone was predicted to make the landfall forcing the evacuation of 20,000 people have been sheltered in relief camps.[133]