Andhra Pradesh gets Rs 10,350 crore expo investments

VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh has attracted investment offers running to over Rs 10,350 crore at Dubai Expo 2022. Once they take-off, it can generate 5,740 jobs directly and around 10,000 indirectly across emerging sectors.

Minister for industries Mekapati Goutham Reddy said that the state’s ‘Investment docket with a compendium of investible projects’ at the India Pavilion in the expo has evoked encouraging responses. He stated that many top players were evincing an interest to partner with the state.

Reddy said that India-UAE negotiations on comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) have enabled the state to identify new partners in mutually viable sectors post-Covid.

Visitors averaging between 7,000 and 10,000 every day were briefed about the initiatives launched by the state government in transforming governance paradigm, future investment opportunities, equitable economic growth and integrating environment and social governance for sustainable development. The state’s delegation also undertook several investment roadshows in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Apart from the local diaspora, they held fruitful meetings with over 400 top businessmen from diverse industries. The delegation highlighted the immense investment opportunities in the agriculture and food sector, infrastructure (ports, airports, logistics, industrial parks, construction and renewable energy), manufacturing (pharmaceuticals, food processing, petrochemicals, IT and electronics, textiles and electric mobility) and exports.

They highlighted the advantages of looking up to Andhra Pradesh during CXO G2B meetings and three roundtables with industry bodies, including the Indian business and professional council (IBPC), Indian business and professional group (IBPG) and ICAI Dubai and Abu Dhabi chapters.

The state has entered into MoUs with five major companies, including Regency Group (hyper-retail markets and food processing unit), Mulk Holdings (aluminium coils and panels), Sharaf Group (integrated logistics park), Tabreed (sustainable cooling infrastructure) and Causis e-mobility Pvt Ltd (electric buses), with an intent to invest over Rs 5,150 crore and generate 3,440 direct employment and 7,800 indirectly.

The state team also had advanced discussions with major firms to finalize investment interests in gypsum board building materials (Rs 600 crore and employment of 300), automotive and batteries (Rs 105 crore and employment of 300), food processing (Rs 150 crore and employment of 300), consumer and industrial packaging unit (Rs 100 crore and 200 jobs), development of pre-fabricated structures (Rs 250 crore and employment of 200), delivering digital solutions across healthcare, cloud governance, utilities, education, and industrial automation using AI and ML technologies and setting up of tertiary multispecialty hospital as part of the state’s health hubs.

The minister pointed out that there were productive discussions with the large state-owned financial holding companies like Mubadala Investment Company, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, KAAF Holdings, Standard Chartered Bank, Family Offices and Abu Dhabi Global Markets (ADGM), which evinced interests in projects generating an ROI of 13-15% in specific investable projects.

The state’s high-level delegation included the special representative of the government in the Middle East and Far East region Zulfi Ravdjee, special chief secretary R Karikal Valaven, vice-chairman and managing director of APIIC) J.V.N. Subramanyam,  APIIC chairman Govinda Reddy and Kurnool legislator Hafeez Khan.