VISAKHAPATNAM: The 23rd edition of the CII Partnership Summit concluded here Saturday with the Andhra Pradesh government inking as many as 665 memoranda of understandings (MoUs) involving investment proposals worth a staggering `10.54 lakh crore. If the prospective investors carry forward their proposals to their logical conclusion, about 22.34 lakh jobs could be generated in the state.
Petroleum and petrochemicals, automobiles, biopharma, textiles, energy and tourism attracted the highest number of investment proposals at the summit this year. Of the `10.54 lakh crore proposals, as much as Rs 1.43 lakh crore were promised in the oil and gas sector. PSU oil companies, including ONGC, HPCL, and GAIL, came up with big ticket investments of up to `1.28 lakh crore.
During the last edition of the CII Summit here last year, 328 MoUs were signed attracting investment proposals of Rs 4.67 lakh crore to the State. Of the total MoUs, around 50 per cent have translated into investments and the projects are in various stages of execution.
At the valedictory of the two-day summit, AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said the state government will deploy a liaison officer to pursue each of the MoUs and ensure ease of doing business for the investors. “We will provide necessary permissions within 14 days. It would be a major boost for the State which is developing into a petrol hub of the country. Agreements have been signed for major projects in other sectors,” he said.
More than 2,500 delegates, including 350 from over 50 foreign nations, attended the Summit. Delegates networked for their business expansions and discussed important issues relating to the Indian economy and global economy.
“It is both a happy and proud moment for me and the people of Andhra Pradesh. We will now pursue the projects to get them grounded at the earliest,” Naidu said.
Governor ESL Narasimhan, who also graced the occasion, said the State had made rapid strides since bifurcation in 2014. He cautioned industrialists not to ignore villages which are likely to trigger migration. “Technology should be used for improvements in agriculture which in turn would ensure food safety.
It should also provide quality education and health facilities to the poor,” he suggested. Civil Aviation Minister P Ashok Gajapati Raju also spoke on the occasion. The Partnership Summit which is also referred to as the second Sunrise Andhra Pradesh Investment Meet was organised by the CII in cooperation with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Union Ministry of Commerce and the Andhra Pradesh government.
The Chief Minister held several meetings including with mobile manufacturers and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. At the meeting with Gadkari, Naidu discussed roads and buildings projects sanctioned to the State by the Centre. Gadkari agreed to a request from the Chief Minister to consider a proposal for the Visakhapatnam-Raipur road link and a simultaneous rail link.