Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu today said Walmart, PepsiCo and Indian IT biggies Infosys and Wipro are among several other companies who have shown interest to expand with their units in the State.
Addressing a press conference here today, Naidu said that his ninth visit to Davos for the World Economic Forum, after about 10-11 years, was extremely fruitful with several major companies expressing their interest to expand with new facilities. India and Andhra Pradesh are top on their agenda for growth, he said.
During the five-day interactive sessions with some of the top global and Indian companies, AP has managed to woo Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka to consider a new facility in either Vijayawada or Vizag and Wirpo to take up its committed expansion at Vizag and setting up of a new soap unit in Anantapur, he said.
PepsiCo Chairman Indra Nooyi discussed issues relating to their expansion beyond their manufacturing unit in Sri City to other locations by setting up fruit processing units and procurment base for agriculture items for their requirement.
With PepsiCo looking growth beyond aerated drinks, Naidu said, “We have offered them mango, papaya, coconut and other produce from AP for their requirements. This will enable them to not only procure for their local requirement but also for supply.”
Referring to his meeting with Vishal Sikka, he said that Infosys Chief was requested to consider their expansion project in AP and he responded favourably and agreed to consider it. So was the assurance from Wipro Chairman Azim Premzi, he said.
Wipro has been chosen by AP for the e-governance projects initiatives and skill development. A joint venture will be formed soon to take this initiative forward, he said.