AP CM Chandrababu Naidu Pitches International Arbitration Centre to Boost India’s Growth

Visakhapatnam, Sept 2025 : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu announced that Andhra Pradesh is prepared to set up an International Arbitration Centre in Visakhapatnam with the support of the judiciary. He said such an initiative would strengthen India’s economic growth by promoting faster resolution of disputes through mediation.

Speaking at the International Mediation Conference organised by the Asian Centre for International Arbitration and Mediation (ACIAM), the Chief Minister said India’s growth is “unstoppable” and projected the country as a future global economic leader by 2047.

Highlighting the importance of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), the Chief Minister noted that mediation is not new to Indian society. “Lord Krishna was the best mediator. In our villages, disputes were traditionally resolved by elders through mediation. My father himself mediated disputes in our village and nearby areas,” he said.

The Chief Minister emphasised that Visakhapatnam has the potential to host one of the world’s largest ADR hubs, better than the existing centre in Singapore, which is widely regarded as the global leader in mediation and arbitration.

He also outlined the state’s efforts to build Visakhapatnam into a global technology hub, pointing to Google’s upcoming data centre and government initiatives such as a quantum computing centre in Amaravati, a planned space city, and a drone city. He added that the government has already been providing 700 public services through WhatsApp using real-time data.

At the same time, the Chief Minister stressed the need to bridge the gap between the rich and poor to ensure a healthier society.

National Law Institute University (Bhopal) Vice-Chancellor Prof. S. Suryaprakash suggested establishing an international school of maritime law in Visakhapatnam, citing its long coastline and growing maritime disputes. Currently, maritime arbitration is conducted in Mumbai, with Gujarat hosting the country’s only maritime university.

Andhra Pradesh High Court Chief Justice Dheeraj Singh Thakur said 1,400 mediators have already been trained in the state and another 800 will be trained by December. He pointed out the absence of a system to assess the skills of mediators and emphasised that integrity and honesty are central to mediation and arbitration.

Supreme Court judges Justices Suryakanth and P.S. Narsimha, who also addressed the gathering, underlined that trust plays a pivotal role in dispute resolution.

Team Maverick.