

VIJAYAWADA: The 14th State Investment Board (SIPB) meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu approved investment proposals to a tune of Rs 19,391 crore of 14 projects aimed at creating employment opportunities for 11,753 youth.
So far, the SIPB gave approvals to the tune of Rs 8.74 lakh crore, which will provide employment opportunities to 8.35 lakh people.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister praised the team work of officials in attracting huge investments during 2025 and advised them to work with the same team spirit during 2026 also.
Referring to achievements in the power sector, the Chief Minister said that the State government decided to bear Rs 4,500 crore true-up charges without passing on the burden to consumers and on the other hand reduced power tariff by 13 paise per unit.
He said a target was set to purchase power at Rs 3.70 per unit by 2029. Several companies including data centres are coming forward to invest in Andhra Pradesh with the progress in the power sector. He said officials should adopt the speed of delivering governance.
Asking the officials to promote tourism in a big way, the Chief Minister asked the officials to prepare a master plan for beach tourism.
He said Suryalanka beach should be developed at a stretch of 15 km and island tourism also should be promoted on par with Maldives for which 25000 rooms should be developed . He said all the other tourism spots should be developed and more amenities should be provided to attract tourists.
Referring to food processing units, the Chief Minister stressed the need for more food processing units in Tirupati region.
He said by providing value addition and global marketing facilities farmers will be benefited in a big way. He said officials should focus more on establishing food processing units.
He said 5000 acres is necessary for developing a space city. He asked the officials to initiate steps to set up food parks and aluminium down stream units in Makavarapalem. Later, the Chief Minister launched AP IT infra portal.
Ministers Nara Lokesh, K Atchannaidu, Payyavula Keshav, Gottipati Ravi, Kumar, Anagani Satya Prasad, P Narayana, Kandula Durgesh, BC Janardhan Reddy, Vasamsetti Subhas, TG Bharath, Chief Secretary K Vijayanand and other officials were present.