AP eyeing `1.87L crore investments at GIS

Visakhapatnam/ Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh government's Global Investors' Summit (GIS)-2023, the two-day grand investment summit being hosted here on March 3 and 4 with an aggressive 'Advantage Andhra Pradesh' campaign, is expected to bring mega investments from corporate honchos and investors from all over the world.

Hosted in association with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) after a series of roadshows in India to showcase investment potential in AP, the State Government hopes that in the thrust areas identified for discussion at the Global Investors' Summit (GIS)-2023 by projecting AP as the gateway to Southeast Asia, it will be successful in signing MoUs worth over Rs1.87 lakh crore.

"Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is very clear about his roadmap for AP. We will sign MoUs with only those firms/investors who are serious about grounding the projects unlike the erstwhile TDP Government. The previous government in Partnership Summits organised during its tenure signed MoUs envisaging an investment of Rs18 lakh crore with a promise to create 40 lakh jobs. But in practice, only 10 percent of investment proposed materialised,"says APIndustries Minister Gudivada Amarnath.

He told Bizz Buzz that the Chief Minister is very keen to provide additional incentives to those project proponents if they ground the projects within six months of inking MoUs.

He said the State, due to visionary leadership of the Chief Minister, has achieved a growth rate of 11.43 percent and continuously ranked No: 1 in Ease of DoingBusiness (EoDB).

The government has identified the following as growth areas for signing MoUs at GIS: Aerospace &defence, agriculture & food processing, automotives & EV, electronics & IT, healthcare & medical equipment, industrial logistics & infrastructure, MSME, startups, innovation, petroleum & chemicals, pharmaceutical & life sciences.

The government showcases the criss-crossing of three industrial corridors viz. Visakhapatnam-Chennai, Chennai-Bengaluru and Hyderabad-Bengaluru as a big advantage for investment opportunities. The government has set aside a land bank of 48,800 acres abutting the corridors.

According to officials, presently, 89 large projects are under implementation with a total investment of Rs2.2 lakh crore ($27.54 billion) with potential to create employment for 20,000 people. The State has the availability of large industrial land banks, 530 industrial estates, 293 industrial parks, 31 MSME parks, six special economic zones (SEZs) and three information technology SEZs and three major industrial corridors.

During roadshows held in Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai and Hyderabad, Amarnath and Finance Minister BugganaRajendranath said the State is taking big strides as evident from its economic growth with GSDP growth rate of 11.43 percent--the highest among all in FY22. In the last three years, the exports have increased at a CAGR of 9.3 percent.