Vijayawada: Year 2023 was a transformative period for Andhra Pradesh, with Chief Minister Y.S Jagan Mohan Reddy's “visionary initiatives reaping rich rewards,” government sources claimed on Wednesday.
The sources noted that the Visakhapatnam Global Investment Summit that AP hosted was a resounding success. It attracted investment proposals worth '13 lakh crore, for which more than 370 MoUs were signed with various industrial houses and investors.
AP emerged as the top state in the Ease-of-Doing Business (EoDB) for the third consecutive year and a “proactive role” has contributed in making the state the new investment destination in various sectors. The single window clearance policy of the YSRC government helped in this.
The officials claimed that sustained efforts of the state government helped in attracting public sector investment to AP. Industry majors like NTPC, ABC Ltd, Oberoi Group, Aurobindo Pharma, Adani Green Energy, AM Green Solar, Aditya Birla, Jindal Steel, K Raheja and Greenlam South group used the state as the launching pad for several of their eco-friendly industrial units.
The year 2023 witnessed the emergence of several food processing and pharmaceutical units, hotels, resorts, industrial, solar and green energy ventures collectively worth Rs 37, 397crore across regions. This resulted in equal employment opportunities, justifying chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s vision of decentralized development for a balanced growth.
The officials said CM Jagan took several steps to ensure the growth of MSMEs by handholding them to adopt and implement modern management systems as also innovative and management skills that are in vogue the world over. The efforts to promote MSMEs in 54 clusters by creating land banks in all districts for decentralised industrial growth helped in the emergence of exclusive MSME parks across the state, they stressed.
“The main feature of these parks are that they would be equipped with Common Facility Centres (CFC) for sharing knowledge, machinery, tools and testing labs for product development. It also helped AP become the destination for sustainable growth and development with a 59 per cent increase in the number of MSMEs, indicating a holistic atmosphere for their sustenance.
The chief minister's vision was reflected in the new industrial policy that proposed to have CFCs in MSME parks, which get 20 per cent of the area in all industrial estates across the state.
With self-help group members promoting small business enterprises with the help of Cheyutha funds in 2023, the officials said the Jagan government’s efforts were yielding results vis-a-vis retaining the momentum of bagging the best performer rank in the country in the Centre’s MSME Index for 2022.
With Cheyutha beneficiaries launching Cheyuta Mahila Marts and garment-making units, as also tamarind processing, onion, solar drying, e-mrchi and backyard poultry enterprises, the government entered into agreements with MNCs like Hindustan Unilever, ITC, Reliance, Mahindra and P&G for marketing the products through their countrywide sales network. This has been paying dividends, the officials claimed.
The officials said year 2023 has seen industry bigwigs like Mukesh Ambani, Karan Adani, Naveen Jindal, GM Rao, Sumant Sinha, Hari Mohan Bangur, Preetha Reddy, Puneet Dalmia, Sajjan Bhajanka, Sumit Bidani, BVR Mohan Reddy, Sergio Lee, Suchitra K Ella, Santhanam B, Vineet Mittal, Gajanan Nabar, Masahiro Yamaguchi and Martin Eberhard gracefully visiting the state and giving a fillip to the cause of industrialization.
Industries minister Gudivada Amarnath said that AP “is on the development path in the industrial sector and investments initiative, and this would continue in the New Year too.
