ET Awards for Corporate Excellence 2025: Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu gets a standing ovation from his party

NEW DELHI: Andhra chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu got a standing ovation from his party's top brass at the two-day collectors' conference in Vijaywada for being named 'Business Reformer of the Year' at The Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence 2025.

ET's headline gave the CEO-CM's style of functioning a new verb-"Naidugiri".

As the collectors conference was concluding, state finance minister Payyavula Keshav picked up a copy of ET and read the headline, "State of the Matter: Naidugiri and the Art of Winning Over Big Business".


He said the headline gave him "goosebumps". "The world has seen dadagiri. Now a new word is introduced-'Naidugiri'. And what is Naidugiri? It is the art of winning over big business." As the council of ministers thumped their desks, Keshav said, "As politicians we are all used to status quo. But you have been challenging us to get better and challenge the status quo." Naidu received a standing ovation.

Later, the CM took to X: "I thank @EconomicTimes for naming me 'Business Reformer of the Year'. This recognition reflects the immense potential of Andhra Pradesh and the hard work of its people." By the end of the day, 'Business Reformer of the Year' was one of the top 10 trends in India on X.