Vizag will be made an IT destination: Goutham Reddy

Nellore: The State government is focusing on developing Vizag as an IT destination, said Minister for IT and Industries M Goutham Reddy. He said assistance from the Asian Development Bank for the Vizag-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC) would be utilised properly for developing infrastructure.

He interacted with the media in the city here on Saturday and said the Port City is highly suitable for development of IT industry because of its topography, lifestyles and the environs for the industry. He criticised the previous TDP government for focusing only on propaganda rather than making efforts for constructive development of the industry.

They failed to achieve what they articulated during elections in 2014, he added. He said that the TDP government had failed to bring industries worth Rs 35 lakh crore to the State that generate around 30 lakh jobs.

The Minister said that they would discuss with Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on how to go about development of the industry and finalise a clear roadmap. He said their main thrust would be discouraging the incentive schemes for promoting industries that finally would become a huge burden on the governments and encourage MSMEs for concrete development of the sector for enhancing employment sources, indirectly mentioning about KIA Motors which floated its unit in Anantapur with sops from the government.

He said they had taken a decision to support the ailing MSME sector under YSR Navodayam with Rs 4,000 crore for rescheduling the loans of around 36,000 industries. Majority firms have been closed due to lacking infra and financial crisis and they have to be bailed out from the situation, he said.

Goutham Reddy said they would not promote mega industries and encourage only investments with transparency duly providing infrastructure in the industrial estates.

He lamented that many industrial estates in the State lacked basic infrastructure and the government would give top priority for developing the infrastructure much before starting an industrial estate. He said they were collecting details of progress or status of industrial estates in the State and take a decision on how to improve the conditions.

The Minister also said they were keenly reviewing the MoUs made during the previous government for accountability to the public since a company floated at Tirupati which sought 1,000 acres of land from the government is a Mumbai-based company with Reliance tag and on enquiry it has been found that in any way it was not connected to the Ambani's Reliance Group.

There are many such instances in the State and so they would not promote industrial organisations in a hasty manner in the State, Goutham Reddy said. The Minister said they were not promoting leather tanning industry anywhere in the coastal areas and only processing units will be encouraged through cluster system. He said they still have to conduct mapping of employment to the local jobless.

He said they were going to take up skill development programmes in all 25 Parliamentary constituencies in a phased manner for providing employment to the local jobless youth.

He reiterated that they were considering scaling of position of employees in the industries rather confining them to the status of a basic worker. He said they would set up an industrial estate and skill development centre in Atmakur in 75 acres.