In the run up to the Global Investors Summit-2023 to be held in Visakhapatnam on March 3 and 4, the State government is focused on showcasing the strengths of Andhra Pradesh. In an exclusive interview with Harshita Nagpal, Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath exudes confidence on the success of the two-day summit and elaborates on the government’s plan to attract investments. Excerpts
How are the preparations going on for the Global Investors Summit and how is the response?
The preparations are at a brisk pace. We held the curtain raiser in New Delhi and roadshows in Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad. The response we have been getting is good. The enquiries we are receiving from business houses and industrialists are also good.
How many people are expected to participate in the summit?
There will definitely be a good number. If you look at the investments that were grounded last year, AP stood first as per DPIIT and moreover, compared to industrialised States like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, AP is still at a nascent stage. This is because till the State bifurcation, AP concentrated on Hyderabad as the industrial city. But now, we have ample opportunity and sectors where AP has inherent strengths, like agri, marine, renewable energy, automobile and pharma sectors. So automatically, the response to the summit will be positive. Also, the venue will be interesting. Take the case of Karnataka, if you have a summit in Bengaluru, it will definitely be far more interesting than anywhere else. Similarly, in Maharashtra, it will be interesting to have a summit in Mumbai. So for us, Vizag is the metropolitan city to hold the summit.
How will the government showcase AP at the summit?
There are two aspects to attract investments. Business is all about making profit. That’s the primary motive. So, we will be showcasing all areas where there is an inherent nature of being profitable. This includes sectors that are automatically supportive and encouraging to that particular business. For example, AP stands first in shrimp, fish and agriculture production. I met a businessman in Chennai who is into the spices business and purchases 60% of chillies from Guntur. So we believe it definitely requires a good interaction and engagement to make him come here. Similar is the case of manufacturing of electronics and automobile and other such industries, where there is opportunity and a good ecosystem. Another advantage that AP has is the ports and our connectivity to the hinterland. Manufacturing industry, which has an import/export segment, will find the State interesting. The second way to attract investments is by giving incentives like other States. However, we have more faith in the State’s natural advantages. Andhra Pradesh has a wonderful workforce and we are sure that will also encourage industries to set up shop here.
The previous TDP regime had also conducted partnership summits. How is the State’s objective different now?
The TDP government’s main theme was signing MoUs. We are not into that. Our focus is on industries that will actually be grounded. We don’t want to be in the race of signing MoUs. So, if you consider all the MoUs signed in the three summits conducted earlier in AP, the actual grounding of investments was to the tune of Rs 1.80 lakh crore. So that is an average of Rs 60,000 crore per summit. Our Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy very pragmatically has asked us to take Rs 1.80 lakh crore as the target for realisable investments, not just MoUs. We are being realistic.
For the Global Investors Summit, the government has laid emphasis on 13 sectors. What are the major sectors where investments are likely to be higher?
Our focus will be on sectors that have strength in AP. If we consider States that are landlocked, we automatically have an advantage over them because of the ports that are already functioning and that are being developed. We also have close proximity to three big cities Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. This will be beneficial for AP. The cost of manufacturing, too, is comparatively low in AP. For expansion in cities like Chennai and Bengaluru, businesses will have to think about issues like congestion. In such cases, cost and committing time also go up. But the minute you come to AP, which is right across the border, we have an advantage of large industrial estates, low cost of land and manpower.I remember the previous government had given a list of businesses, industries and Memoranda of Understanding signed. The list had mentioned a cancer research institute in Visakhapatnam with a job creation of 19,000. So I asked in the State Assembly, if 19,000 is the number of patients or employees? Are you mistaken? The cancer research institute cannot have 19,000 employees.
Why the YSRC government has been criticised for not focusing on investments before?
This is a false propaganda of the Opposition. Last year, we got the highest number of investments in the country. If you take the average of investments they brought to the State in five years and what we brought in three years, we have done better. These figures are all on record. The TDP government secured around Rs 11,000-odd crore, while we have recorded investments to the tune of Rs 13,000 crore per year in the large and medium industries category. This includes two years of Covid pandemic, too. Ours is a welfare-oriented government, but at the same time we have not neglected other sectors. We are proud to be a welfare State.Andhra Pradesh is one of the States with the highest tax collections. So, if growth and tax collection are good, does it not mean that the economy is good? We recorded the highest GSDP growth in the country last year. Does it not mean that some sector is doing well? Everyone knows that it is not agriculture alone that promotes massive growth. It has to be industry, manufacturing and services as well. This is in spite of having various hurdles. The previous government left us a whole lot of pending bills and disarray in policy. At least we are focused. Welfare is our priority and that is the reason we are spending so much on it. Our focus is specifically on education. Let them come forward and explain which of our schemes are wrong. We are among the best now in providing health services. Let somebody come forward and say they don’t want health services. It is easy to say something is wrong, but it is wrong to say that something else has not been done. All the money being spent on welfare is meaningful and it helped a lot during the Covid-19 pandemic. This is evident from the tax collections.
AP has ranked first in the Ease of Doing Business index for the last three years. What has changed procedure-wise?
Reducing the number of compliances from 300 has helped a lot. Turnaround time for approvals has been brought down as well. It used to take months together earlier, but we brought it down to 21 days and now it takes around 12 days for a business to get approval. This is for industries other than those that require environmental clearance, and have to follow Government of India norms. For such businesses, it mandatorily takes a certain amount of time to get approvals.
You have emphasised on moving from being a State with the best Ease of Doing Business index to the lowest cost of doing business. What will the government do to achieve this?
Our focus is on providing low cost of land, water and manpower, good infrastructure and power supply, quick approvals and overall safety and security for businesses. Plug and play facilities will also play a role.
Which sectors will benefit from the plug and play facilities?
Plug and play will be very handy for electronics manufacturing sector because it does not consume too much space. That is the reason why we are establishing such facilities in Kopparthi and Tirupati.