VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday directed officials to roll out new policies in five sectors - Industries, MSMEs, Food Processing, Textiles, and Electronics, IT and Cloud - in the next 100 days.
Instructing officials to create a favourable atmosphere for attracting investments through better policies, Naidu said the new policies should focus on turning the state into a hub for green hydrogen and green energy.
During a meeting held at the state Secretariat to review the Industries Department, the Chief Minister also asked officials to prepare proposals to set up industrial clusters at Kuppam in Chittoor district, Moolapeta in Srikakulam district, Lepakshi in Sri Sathya Sai district, Donakonda or Pamuru in Prakasam district, and seek the Central government’s approval for the same. Further, he advised them to set up units for electronics, pharma, food processing and hardware in these clusters.
He took stock of the progress of Krishnapatnam, Nakkapalli, Orvakal and Kopparthy industrial nodes and also enquired about the status of the bulk drug park, which is set to come up at Nakkapalli with an estimated cost of Rs 11,542 crore, the Rs 60,000 crore NTPC Green Hydrogen Hub and the BPCL refinery.
Pointing out that investment agreements to the tune of Rs 16 lakh crore were inked under the TDP regime from 2014 to 2019, Naidu said the investors withdrew their proposal because of policies adopted by the previous YSRC government.
Underscoring the need to instil confidence among the investors, he directed officials to hold consultations with investors, who reneged from investing in the state.
He said he will also speak to them, if required, and persuade them to invest in the state.
“Works for projects that are underway should be expedited, while projects taken up with Rs 1 lakh crore should be completed within a year to generate employment to 1.36 lakh people,” he directed officials. Naidu also asked officials to slash land rates at Mallavalli industrial estate in erstwhile Krishna district.
Meanwhile, officials informed the Chief Minister that 1,382 acres, acquired for industrial needs, were distributed under housing schemes during the YSRC’s tenure.
They explained that while the TDP government cleared 66% of industrial incentives from 2014-19, the YSRC government paid only 34% incentives.
Recounting that 64 industrial parks were made available across 14,125 acres from 2014 to 2019, Naidu said only 31 industrial parks were made available between 2019 and 2024.
Investor-friendly industrial policy will be rolled out in 100 days: Industries Minister
Briefing mediapersons after the meeting, Industries Minister TG Bharat said an investor-friendly industrial policy will be rolled out in the coming 100 days to attract huge investments and provide employment opportunities to youth on a large scale.
He explained that the draft policies will be prepared within 15 days and subsequently final policies will be rolled out after holding discussions with stakeholders.
Observing that the state has abundant resources, Bharat said, “Naidu is himself a brand for the state. I am confident that the state will witness a heavy inflow of investments in the days to come.”
Further, he explained that plans are afoot to develop the Chittoor node at a cost of Rs 1,350 crore in the coming year in PPP (Public Private Partnerships) mode.
Additionally, the Minister said BPCL is ready to invest Rs 75,000 crore in the state. The location of the project will be decided by the Chief Minister within 90 days, he added.
He pointed out that VinFast, the Vietnam-based multinational automotive company, had come forward to set up an electric car manufacturing in the state, but chose Tamil Nadu because of the ‘negligence of the previous government’.
However, on our request, they agreed to set up a battery manufacturing unit at Krishnapatnam, he said.
Proposals for four industrial clusters
Officials were directed to prepare proposals to set up industrial clusters at Kuppam in Chittoor, Moolapeta in Srikakulam, Lepakshi in Sri Sathya Sai, Donakonda or Pamuru in Prakasam district