Buggana holds road show in Hyderabad, focuses on AP\'s connectivity to draw investors

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh finance minister Buggana Rajendranath on Friday assured investors that the decision to have three capitals for the state had the backing of statute and would address regional aspirations of the people. “It is a decision that will keep people from all the three regions happy and ensure stability,” he said.

The minister was speaking at a road show organised here as part of preparations for ensuing global investment summit in Visakhapatnam March 3 and 4. The Sivaramakrishna committee appointed under the AP Reorganisation Act that was passed by the highest legislative body in the country – Parliament – had made a strong recommendation for decentralisation of administration.

Earlier too there were pacts like the Gentlemen’s Agreement, Sree Bagh Agreement entered into for meeting regional aspirations, he said.

The minister ruled out a power shortage in Andhra Pradesh and said the state was power surplus. “The greatest advantage is that we have a strong presence of renewable energy and are taking a giant leap in creating pump storage which plays crucial role in the era of hydrogen fuel,” he said. “People can come and invest now and get the early bird advantage,” he said.

On why an investor should think about Andhra Pradesh as the destination, the minister said the eco-system for several sectors like pharma, aqua, food processing, automobile and renewable energy was in place and in addition to it the state would provide best road, rail and air connectivity. “We are the gateway for Asean trade, Rajendranath pointed out. The government had kept 48,000 acres of land with clear title for immediate allotment to industries, he said adding that land bank of another one lakh acres was also identified.

The minister said; "Our focus is on building Visakhapatnam as the next global IT destination. Andhra Pradesh is the only state with three industrial corridors i.e Visakhapatnam-Chennai, Chennai-Bengaluru and Hyderabad-Bengaluru”. Drawing comparisons, the minister said since the state is land-locked, Andhra Pradesh with six ports would be suitable for export oriented industries.

CII-Telangana vice-chairman C. Sekhar Reddy, AP bureaucrats K. Sunitha, Sagil Shanmohan, Dr Srijana Gummalla, Bharat Thota and APTPC chairman Ravichandra Reddy were present.