AP CM's costly dreams: Rs 70 crore for Chandrababu Naidu's new Chopper

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu plans to buy a helicopter at Rs.70 crore to facilitate his air trips across the state from Hyderabad.

Though the state finances is in a crunch, the Chief Minister is a busy man flying across the length and breadth of the country and other parts of the World hunting for investments to the state.

Currently he is opting for private choppers and chartered flights to ferry him to Delhi and to the district towns. As the state operates from Temporary capital, Hyderabad, Naidu oftens shuffle between Hyderabad and districts of Andhra Pradesh which has cost state exchequer over Rs. 15 Crores in the last 8 months.

Recently he had series of meetings with Air Bus and also Boeing companies in Hyderabad and also Delhi and did some test flying in their 30 seater aircraft and 14 seater helicopters. Lack of many airfields in AP also made it impossible for him to buy cheaper and less automated aircraft.

We all know how the former CM YSR died in a chopper crash in September 2009. YSR had opted to take an old chopper as the brand new one -Augusta Westland was yet to be put into full operation. Even the Augusta was destroyed in a hangar fire at Begumpet in 2012 and then CM Kiran Kumar Reddy's attempt to buy another chopper had not been successful.