Generally, any industrialist or company wanting to set up a unit in any state asks the government concerned for various concessions and exemptions related to taxes, land allotment, power and Water supply.

But, Officials Were Surprised over the requirements of Microsoft to set up its unit at Amaravati. Microsoft representatives met AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in Vijayawada two days ago. They discussed the possibilities of setting up a Microsoft unit at Amaravati, the capital city of AP. Senior officials of the AP government Were also present.

Officials expected the Microsoft representatives to ask for tax exemptions, concessions in land rate and others. Surprisingly the software giant representatives asked for a swimming pool, 24x7 restaurants, golf course, five star hotels, big super bazaars and other things. They told the state government that these were required for their staff.

The state government on Saturday signed a pact with Singapore for the establishment of a Centre of Excellence (COE) at Visakhapatnam. According to JA Chowdary, Special Chief Secretary and IT Advisor to the state government, the MoU will be a landmark one in the government's endeavour to combat cyber crimes. Stating that Singapore is a pioneer in IT-enabled Financial Technologies (Fin Tech), Chowdary said that Fin Tech offers a solution to tackle the cyber attacks on banks and other financial institutions. Cyber hackers had become more intelligent these days and capable of hacking even smart documents, he said and announced that many global Fin Tech firms were eager to set shop in Visakhapatnam.

Earlier, IT Minister Palle Raghunatha Reddy, who exchanged MoU documents with Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Chief Fin Tech Officer Sopendu Mohanty, felt that Visakhapatnam would become a hub of Fin Tech start-ups in partnership with Singapore. The MoU will facilitate start-ups to engage in external partnerships with financial institutions, universities, research institutions, technology experts and government agencies.

The government is of the view that the move is expected to be a key enabler for growth and innovation in FinTech sector with Visakhapatnam as a happening place. The minister said that Visakhapatnam would be developed as the next FinTech destination of the country and about six lakh graduates coming out of the degree and PG colleges in the State every year would be benefitted from Centre of Excellence (COE) which is coming up Visakhapatnam. Sopendu Mohanty said social evils like corruption and poverty could be handled effectively with the application of technology, citing e-PoS introduced in the public distribution system in the state as a case in point. He announced that a Singapore Fin Tech Festival will be held in second week of November. About 10,000 representatives would attend the festival, he said.

As part of the MoU, the state would share information about innovations in financial services in their respective markets with the MAS. Authorities work with MAS to develop curriculum for the Fin Tech sector in the irrespective jurisdictions. The primary mechanism would be through referrals to the relevant parties or universities, They would nurture Fin Tech startups and collaborate to facilitate their growth. The primary mechanism would be through the creation of a COE in Visakhapatnam for which the state government will provide basic infrastructure facilities.

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Using the analogy of surgical strikes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday wondered what would have happened if the government had adopted similar strategy in the recent campaign against black money, which unearthed Rs.65,000 crore.

"We gave some time to those who had generated black money (to declare it). You Will be happy to know that Rs.65,000 crore in black money came into main stream with payment of tax and penalty.

"Now think, Rs.36,000 crore that was leaking has been stopped (by direct benefit transfer), and Rs.65,000 crore of black money is unearthed, together it is 1 lakh-crore. And this Rs.1 lakh-crore has been brought back without launching surgical strikes," Modi said, invoking the term used for recent operation by Army against terror launch pads in PoK.

“If we do surgical strikes (in this area), you can imagine what all will come out," the PM said.

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Britain government is going to invest around 6 billion dollars (Rs.40,000 crores), to Andhra Pradesh Capital Amaravati. Britain will keep a special fund called "Amaravati Development Fund" and used this amount for the basic infrastructure and development of Amaravati. "Amaravati Development Fund" would be raised by Britain through London Stock Exchange.

These funds will not only be helpful to infrastructure, but also provide loans to establish industries in private and public sector. Price Water House Coopers and Ernst & Young are going to act as a consultant for British government and they are going to study the requirements in Amaravati construction, Investment Opportunities and other basic things. These two consultants already started their exercise and also held a meeting with CRDA officials.

In the recent tour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to London, British Government has shown interest to develop smart cities in India and they have selected Amaravati as one of the city. After the follow up tour of Mr.Naidu to London, British Government has shown special interest in Amaravati and offered the required help needed in all aspects of making Amaravati, a smart city.