Since TDP's victory in 2014 elections, the then Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had regularly attended the WEF meets in Davos, under the pretext of garnering foreign investments for Andhra Pradesh, projecting it as the Sunrise State. But there are no investments to the state but the debt-ridden state is burdened by the wasteful expenditure.
In a letter written to the Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board (APEDB), the CII requested the APEDB to pay the bills amounting to 17 Crore along with GST incurred for Chandrababu's trip to the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in switzerland's Davos held on January 2019. The lounges rental itself was Rs 2.48 crore. For furnishing and equipping the lounge with sofas and computers, the amount was Rs 2.51 crore apart from the banners, standees, etc.
Strangely, the LED screen was billed at Rs 1.45 crore. For the four-day trip, an amount of Rs 1.05 crore was incurred for the AP delegation's meals. These are just the costs of setting up a lounge in Davos. In addition, Chartered special flights for Chandrababu and the swanky hotels for his entourage which included his son Nara lokesh, former finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, senior State officials and his security officers.
