MSMEs prioritised, to be linked with MNCs: CM Jagan

Vijayawada: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has said high top priority must be given for promotion of micro, small and medium enterprises by providing them with technical know-how and linking them with multinational companies to sell their products in the global market. The Chief Minister was speaking at a review meeting on industry he held with minister G Amaranath and senior officials at his camp office on Monday.
 
Jagan Reddy said MSMEs played a crucial role in the growth of the industries sector in AP and these could generate large numbers of jobs. The government should serve as a guide for MSMES by identifying the products that are in high demand in the global market, providing them with technical know-how and help link them with the MNCs.

The CM called for an action plan for promotion of MSMEs. He asked the officials to set up a special wing exclusively for MSMEs and appoint a secretary exclusively for this wing. Product diversification must be encouraged so as to reach world markets, he said.
 
He stressed on maintenance of quality for the products and felt the need to provide skill development training.

The Chief Minister also reviewed the progress of implementation of MoUs signed at the Global Investors Summits held in AP in the last few years. The officials informed the CM that the State Investment Promotion Board meetings were held 10 times since the YSRC government assumed power in 2019, and as many as 59 projects were given approval. Out of these, a sum of Rs 3,39,959 crore worth investments were to be received and 2,34,378 jobs to be generated.
 
They said that out of 1,739 MoUs signed with an investment commitment of Rs 18,87,058 crore from 2016 to 2018, not even 10 per cent of the committed investment were materialised.
 
In the recently held Global Investors Summit in Visakhapatnam, 387 MoUs were signed, of which 100 MoUs belonged to industries and commerce. Of them, 13 MoUs were realised with a total of Rs 2,739 crore in investments and it generated employment for 6,858  persons, officials said.
 
The CM also reviewed the progress via-a-vis power projects. The officials said that out of 25 MoUs signed at the Visakhapatnam GIS, eight project proposals were sent for approval to SIPB while works on four more projects would begin soon. Besides, DPRs for eight more projects have been prepared. The CM wanted Visakhpatnam to be a hub for IT and IT-based services. The officials told the CM that out of 88 IT-related MoUs signed worth Rs 44,963 crore, 85 per cent of the firms either started the work or are already ready for software production. Nearly Rs 38,573 crore was realized out of these so far. The CM called for execution of the MoUs signed in the food processing sector expeditiously so that it would benefit the farmers in a big way.