Goyal lauds AP's EoDB record, tells new government to keep pace

Tirupati: In an obvious praise for the efforts of TDP government led by N Chandrababu Naidu, the Union minister for railways, commerce and industry Piyush Goyal complimented AP for ranking No 1 in the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) for two successive years and urged the present government to maintain this ranking.

He said that now they were going to district level for ranking them in Ease of Doing Business in the days and years to come. The minister along with AP minister for industries M Gowtham Reddy held an interactive meeting on Ease of Doing Business with representatives of trade and industry here on Friday.

Goyal emphasised that the competitive spirit within the state and among states will take the country forward to its true heights of development and ultimately make India a hub of economic growth. Senior representatives of small, medium, large industries, foreign investors, infrastructure developers, start-ups shared their ideas in the session.

At the interactive session, some suggestions to encourage MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) sector came up and the minister responded that they would be taken up for policy intervention. He emphasised the need for encouraging e-vehicles, particularly the buses, auto-rickshaws, both by the Centre and the state governments. There is also a need for setting up of charging stations in a big way to create an ecosystem for electrical vehicles.

"Preliminary discussions were held with the AP minister Gowtham Reddy on how to take some of the stalled projects forward with the investment, enthusiasm for which the state of AP was always famous for," he said. The Centre and state government can work together to promote areas like fisheries, coastal development of AP, tourism, renewable energy in a faster manner and better practices in agriculture to benefit farmers.

On the Special Category Status to AP, Goyal reiterated the Central government's stand which was consistent and beyond which it cannot go. In the same breath, he assured that the Cntre will extend its full support in meeting the needs and aspirations of the people of the state. "The Centre has provided so many benefits to AP which go even beyond the AP Reorganisation Act and it was committed to the welfare of every citizen in AP," he underlined.

He recalled that the erstwhile government agreed the special package on the floor of the House also but politicised the issue later which was not in the interests of the people of the state. Also, the minister urged the present government to study what were accepted by the previous government and work with the Central government to ensure those benefits reached to the people.

State minister Gowtham Reddy, however, made it clear that the state government will press for SCS. He said that the interactive session was very fruitful and the decision to take Ease of Doing Business to district level may yield good results. Principal decretary to department of industries Rajat Bhargava, commissioner Siddarth Jain, South Central Railway General Manager Gajanan Mallya, district collector Dr Narain Bharat Gupta and others were present.