VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has said the MSME sector plays a key role in the economic development of the nation, and youth should develop innovative thinking to emerge as entrepreneurs. He set a target to promote one crore entrepreneurs under the ‘One Family - One Entrepreneur’ concept introduced by the State government.
The Chief Minister inaugurated Dr BR Ambedkar Kalavedika in Vijayawada on Monday, and virtually laid the foundation stones for 38 MSME Parks.
Addressing the One Family - One Entrepreneur MSME Growth Summit 2026 at the Kalavedika, Naidu said his government gave top priority to empowerment of women and youth.
“The MSME sector paves the way to fulfil the innovative ideas and dreams of youth. As part of it, the State government has released Rs 558 crore as incentives to MSMEs so far, and the AP Cluster Development Programme will be launched with Rs 200 crore,” he said.
MSMEs alone have the potential to transform a small idea into a large industry, and the sector is the second-largest employment generator in the country after agriculture. Hence, the government has made resources more accessible to MSMEs, and introduced the dedicated MSME and private industrial park policies to accelerate growth, he highlighted.
The State will also extend incentives to private industrial parks, he said, citing Sri City as a successful industrial model. Referring to women’s economic empowerment, Naidu said women’s self-help groups currently hold a corpus of `28,000 crore, and announced plans to transform five lakh women from DWCRA groups into entrepreneurs this year.
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“Startups will be promoted through the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub and a target has been set to create 100 unicorns from Andhra Pradesh,” he said.
Naidu emphasised that the future belongs to the knowledge economy, and called upon youth and industries to embrace emerging opportunities.
He reiterated the government’s slogan, “Village to Global Market,” and advocated a circular economy where waste from one industry becomes raw material for another, helping build a strong MSME ecosystem in the State.
Andhra Pradesh has launched a special action plan under its Credit Guarantee Scheme to facilitate loans worth `5,000 crore and also making efforts to revive struggling MSMEs, he explained.
The Chief Minister announced a special programme to encourage aspiring entrepreneurs by extending loans up to Rs 1 crore. MSMEs must become key players in sectors such as space, defence and aerospace, Naidu said.
Andhra Pradesh has attracted investments worth Rs 23 lakh crore in 23 months. “Our government follows the model of signing, grounding and inaugurating industries,” Naidu said, adding that five more convention centres similar to Ambedkar Kalavedika will be built across the State.