N. Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister, Andhra Pradesh, India

N. CHANDRABABU NAIDU HAS long had a vision of transforming his state, one of India's poorest, into a high-tech zone. The World Bank is so impressed with his plans that when India was sanctioned after testing a nuclear device last year, the agency still gave him a $560 million loan. Naidu is using the money for health care, education, irrigation, and state-enterprise reform. But some voters are concerned that their top official is focusing more on computers than on farmers. With an eye on state elections in November, Naidu, 49, is trying to convince them that development is in everyone's interest. "We have to educate, to communicate with people," he says. "In reform, there are always adversaries."

There's no question that the state has benefited from Naidu's tenure. Naidu is responsible for adding 900,000 of the state's 1.5 million telephone lines. He has drawn $1.5 billion worth of foreign investment pledges. Microsoft Corp. is building its first overseas software development center in the capital, Hyderabad. The once dirty city is now the cleanest in India, thanks to Naidu.