AP CM’S net worth rises to ₹2.53-cr within a year
HYDERABAD: The net worth of N Chandrababu Naidu, chief minister of Andhra Pradesh and president of the Telugu Desam Party, nearly quadrupled last year, according to a declaration of family assets by his son and IT minister, Nara Lokesh, on Friday.
Naidu was worth ₹67.04 lakh on March 31, 2016. As of the end of March this year, he was worth ₹2.53 crore. That is an increase by a factor of 3.77, and a total gain of ₹1.86 crore.
The financial disclosure is the result of a Naidu family policy. “We have been declaring assets of our family voluntarily for the past seven years to show it lived by the virtues of trust and transparency,” said Lokesh.
“No other family of any politician in the country has declared its assets in such a transparent manner.” While all Indian politicians are required to make financial statements at election time, the Naidu family may be unique in volunteering this information annually. Lokesh challenged his party’s main rival, YSR Congress party chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy, to follow suit.
The Naidu family’s disclosure represented ‘acquisition value’, the value at which assets are purchased or acquired, rather than the market value, since the latter varies over time, said Lokesh.
Heritage Foods, Naidu’s family business, did well in the stock market last year. The value of Naidu’s new residence at Jubilee Hills is ₹7.76 crore. This was shown as ₹3.68 crore last year since the house was still under construction.