HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh, the pharma and bulk drugs capital of India, is in for nothing less than an industrial transformation with more than 233 companies domestic and global evincing interest in setting up new projects with an aggregate investment of Rs 5.55 lakh crore in the next few years, according to major industries minister J Geeta Reddy.
"The fruition of these 233 proposals will generate 4.7 lakh jobs in the state. We have placed a special emphasis on higher education, food processing and skill development. We are also trying to explore possiblities for Indo-African and SinoIndian ventures," she said during the inaugural session of the CII Partnership Summit here Thursday.
Delivering the keynote address, chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy emphasized the need for improvement of infrastructure in the state to be able to attract investment. "Our state recorded 9 per cent growth in 201011, and revenues grew by 25 per cent despite the global economic crisis," said the chief minister, indicating that the slowdown had a softer impact on AP.
Lauding the 22 per cent contribution to the country's GDP and 28 per cent to employment generation in India from the four southern states, CII chairman (southern region) T T Ashok said the south's contribution to the nation's GDP is expected to increase from $300 billion in 2010 to over $700 billion by 2020. "Some 6065 per cent of IT exports are from the south, and 3540 per cent of textiles and 4045 per cent of healthcare is from the southern region. The focus is now on auto components, aerospace, pharma, clean and green technologies," he explained.