Andhra Pradesh mulls new policy to boost industries

Amaravati: The AP government is likely to come up with a new industrial policy soon. This policy will be a short-term policy for a period of three years.

Industries Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy said on Wednesday that the new policy will be a practical one. There will be no hype and the incentives that would be announced in the policy will be pragmatic.

He stated that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has given a clear direction that the incentives should be practical and in tune with the available resources. Once an assurance is given to the industries, the government should be in a position to honour it.

He said the previous government did not clear the industrial incentive dues even after framing the policy, which hampered the development of the industrial sector and also showed a negative impact on the investments. The YSRCP government, he said, had cleared the dues pending from 2014 till date, to a tune of around Rs 1000 crore.

Clearing the dues by the government even during the COVID-19 pandemic gave a confidence to the industrial sector in the State, he added.

Explaining why the government had decided to go in for a three-year short-term policy, the minister said COVID-19 had forced them to come up with a shorter policy. The main purpose is to attract all sectors. He also said the cluster development approach would be helpful in attracting new investors. The government, Reddy said, had studied the possible opportunities for investment.

The investments will be encouraged ranging from Rs 10 lakh to thousands of crores, he added. Meanwhile, the officials said that the Chief Minister would take a final call on the proposed industrial policy on Thursday.