VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh government targets to increase its export contribution to 10 per cent by 2030, Industries and Commerce Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy has said adding that the infrastructure development projects like ports, fishing harbours and other initiatives will yield the desired results. Maintaining that the State witnessed 1.58 per cent GSDP growth in 2020-21 despite the pandemic, he said that the welfare schemes under Navaratnalu launched by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy came in handy in this regard.
The government is going ahead with five indices including capital, enterprise, land, labour and skill to achieve progress. Explaining the progress of Industries and other departments under him in the past two years to mediapersons in the APIIC headquarters at Mangalagiri on Tuesday, the minister took a dig at the previous TDP regime saying that it was limited to entering into MoUs. “But our government is practical,” he claimed.“While only a few MoUs signed by the previous government came into reality, the majority of the agreements signed in the last two years are turning into projects,” he argued.
The minister said that the State registered a growth of 1.58 per cent, even during Covid times, due to the foresight of the Chief Minister. “With the focus on protecting the lives and livelihoods of various sections of the society, the Chief Minister implemented welfare activities such as YSR Cheyutha, Aasara, zero-interest loans, MSME packages and supporting women empowerment in the industrial front. Andhra Pradesh is the only state that has come up with a welfare calendar, that too in a pandemic year,” he said.
On the infrastructure front, ports, fishing harbours, YSR Steel Corporation Limited, AP Airports Development Corporation, Corridor Development and Concept Cities are the mainstays and in industries and commerce sector, policies, Re-Start, Business Reform Action Plan, Handlooms and allied field development works would be taken up. The focus is on the construction of Ramayapatnam, Bhavanapadu and Machilipatnam ports along with the construction of nine fishing harbors in two phases, he said. Stating that the building infrastructure is the top priority, he said that Kurnool airport is already in operation and steps are being taken to complete the construction of Bhogapuram airport as soon as possible.
After the government was formed, between June 2019-May 2021, as many as 65 mega and large industries were set up in the State with an investment of Rs 29,780.86 crore, creating 45,049 jobs. Similarly, in the MSME front, 13,885 units were set up with an investment of Rs 4,220.71 crore while giving employment to 88,516 people. Further, he said that investments of Rs 1,032 crore have been achieved in this financial year and projects worth Rs 18,000 crore are in progress.
He stated that Andhra Pradesh was ranked first in the Ease of Doing Business in 2020 among all states in India by DPIIT, GOI and World Bank. Also, the State has been conferred with ‘Best State in Skill Development’ by ASSOCHAM. The APSSDC has been accredited with ISO:9001:2015 due to quality parameters adopted while implementing the skill development programmes.