VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh Government is highlighting the advantages of the state as a top destination for investment, in the run-up to the Global Investors Summit-2023 in Visakhapatnam towards end-March.
Under this initiative, it has started the advantageap portal and gives focus on AP’s thriving aquaculture industry to show that it is leading India in the marine exports sector.
Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy has highlighted the fact that three out of the 11 industrial corridors being developed by the Centre were linked to AP – the Hyderabad to Bangalore, the Visakhapatnam to Chennai and the Chennai to Bangalore.
Jagan himself participated in the GIS curtain raiser meet in Delhi, while finance minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy, industries minister Gudivada Amarnath and top officials participated in the GIS Industry Meets in Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai and Hyderabad, to showcase AP’s potentials as an investment destination.
Officials said that during the Delhi meet, Jagan invited global investors to come to AP, which is ranked “number one” in the country in the Ease of Doing Business. All departments are energetically campaigning about the business opportunities and services available in the state.
They said the aquaculture industry in India is a rapidly-growing sector that involves the farming of aquatic organisms including fish, shrimp, and mollusks for food, pharmaceuticals and other products.
Another aspect being highlighted is that AP’s favourable climatic conditions, ample water resources and its long coastline of 974km make it an ideal location for aquaculture. The sector includes the breeding of various aquatic species such as fish, shrimp and crab, making it one of India's foremost seafood producers.
AP also plays a vital role in the country's seafood exports, ranking first in the production of eggs, fish and shrimp and securing the top spot for marine exports in the fiscal year 2021-22.
It is also pointed out that AP has taken up aquaculture on 2.12 lakh hectares, with approximately 1.38 lakh farmers participating in it. The 111 cold storages hold 2.27 metric tonnes of aqua products. The government provides subsidized power to aqua farmers engaged in the production in less than 10 acres falling under aqua zones, with about 26,000 power connections receiving this benefit.
AP has also set up an Aquatic Quarantine Facility to ensure the quality of exported aquaculture products. With the development of six in-land waterways and nine fishing harbours, the state intends to offer sea connectivity every 50km to harness the full potential of the country’s second-largest coastline.
The state vastly campaigned about its IT policy, stating that AP was the first state in southern India to implement robust energy conservation programmes, providing round-the-clock quality power to industries, and having the lowest HT Industrial tariffs.
“The state is a well-known knowledge hub hosting premier institutes such as IIT, IISER, IIIT and IIM, as also 18 state-sponsored universities and 346 engineering/MCA colleges with plans to create three IT Concept cities in Visakhapatnam, Tirupati and Anantapur.
As for the Electronics, AP has emerged as a rapidly expanding hub for global manufacturing, with special emphasis on the electronics system design and manufacturing (ESDM) industry. The state boasts of multiple large original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and original design manufacturers (ODMs) in the semiconductor sector.
It has four electronics manufacturing clusters (EMCs), including two in Tirupati (EMC 1 and EMC 2), one in Sricity, and another in Kopparthy, which is currently under construction.
Further, AP is vastly campaigning about food processing and other sectors to attract investments in the GIS-2023, officials said.
