AP Chambers seeks completion of industrial nodes

Vijayawada: AP Chamber of Commerce and Industry Federation (AP Chambers) appealed to Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to focus on various issues related to different sectors for the rapid development of Andhra Pradesh, according to a communiqué received from AP Chambers here on Tuesday.

President of AP Chambers Potluri Bhaskar Rao and general secretary B Rajshekar met with Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman here on Monday and submitted a detailed representation on various issues and challenges faced by different sectors in Andhra Pradesh.

Some of the suggestions made by the AP Chambers are related to rapid completion of six industrial nodes proposed in three industrial corridors, faster development of the three multi-modal integrated logistics parks proposed for the state, supporting development of port-led economy.

The Union minister was requested to permit once again a “one-time restructuring of bank term loans to MSMEs” with simple terms. She was also requested to simplify credit rating and CIBIL scores for MSMEs and to address delayed payments issue and the mandatory procurement from MSMEs.

BJP state president Daggubati Purandheswari and Rajya Sabha member G V L Narasimha Rao were also present in the meeting. CII AP chapter president Lakshmi Prasad, All India Chilli Exporters Association president Velagapudi Sambasiva Rao, AP MSME Association honorary president Bayana Venkatrao, CREDAI AP chapter president Ramana Rao, AP Hotels Association president R V Swamy, COWE AP chapter president Radhika are the other members present during the meeting.

On connectivity front, the Union minister was requested to restore and increase domestic and international air connectivity from Vijayawada and to provide cargo facilities with cold storage facilities at all airports across AP.

Bhaskara Rao said that the Union minister has agreed to find a solution on Visakhapatnam airport runway resurfacing issue without disturbing the flight schedules.

The AP Chambers also requested the minister to commence the proposed Vande Bharat sleeper trains from Vijayawada to Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata since so far Vijayawada, the second biggest railway junction, has no long distance trains originating from here.

It also brought to the notice of the minister several issues relating to food processing like setting of campuses of premier research institutes like CFTRI, IIFT, NIFTEM to support processing industry, removing GST on naturally dried chillies, removing GST on raw cotton procured by ginning industry, reducing GST from 12 per cent to 5 per cent for budget hotels, need for oil palm board for AP, setting up of bulk drug park, Medtechzone in Krishnapatnam Corridor node, GST-related issues of various other sectors, reducing tax collected at source (TCS) on overseas travel to boost tourism. The chambers also requested the minister for shifting of all lead banks’ state heads and their offices to AP from Hyderabad and opening of the state offices of various central Institutions immediately in AP.