Chandrababu Naidu says state tops in attracting investments

Amaravati: Stating that Andhra Pradesh was the only state in the country which achieved double digit growth and created four lakh jobs, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said state government had been giving priority to industrialisation with a campaign of ‘people first and industry first’ and `one entrepreneur should be developed in every house in the state.’  

Addressing budget session of AP Assembly on Tuesday, the Chief Minister said Andhra Pradesh would have achieved more development if there was handholding from the Centre during the last four years.  The Centre did not start any work relating to Dugarajapatnam port even after four years and the port was included in AP Reorganisation Act.

He said the state attracted investments to a tune of Rs 18.55 lakh crore under 2,536 MoUs providing employment opportunity to 44.28 lakh people.  As many as 26,368 MSMEs were set up with an investment of Rs 11,779 crore providing employment opportunities to 3.09 lakh people.

The Chief Minister said the industrial sector paved way for achieving 22.09 GVA and manufacturing sector in the state helped to reach 9.65 GVA during 2017-18.

The Chief Minister said Anantapur district would be developed as major automobile hub as giant automobile companies including Kia motors established their units in the district.  The state has been attracting number of industries due to the transparency in giving permissions. 

He said 628 MoUs were signed in food processing and 7 mega food parks are coming up. He said 104 MoUs were signed in textile sector, 30 MoUs were signed in IT and E sector, and 51 companies signed MoUs in Visakhapatnam and Chittoor districts.

Coming to tourism sector 199 MoUs were signed attracting an investment of Rs 15,200 crore and the domestic tourism increased by 19 per cent in the state.

The Chief Minister said that the Central government should extend cooperation to the state, which has achieved double digit growth paving way for increase in national economy.

Minister for Industries N Amaranatha Reddy said despite non-cooperation from the Centre, AP had achieved significant growth in industrial sector. Several industries such as Kia Motors had come to the State only because of image of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and industrial-friendly policies of state government.