AP Only State To Come Up with 3 Industrial Corridors, CM YS Jagan

VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday launched a two-day 'Vanijya Utsav-2021' organised under Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, laying a special focus on boosting the trade and exports in Andhra Pradesh.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that the government will provide full support to the industrialists and use this event to bring the government closer to trade and exports. He said that the government was at the forefront of trade development and infrastructure creation in spite of facing overwhelming challenges in the past two years and achieved a growth of 19.43 percent in exports. The State witnessed consistent improvement in export performance from standing at 9th place in 2018-19 to 7th position in 2019-20 and to 4th position in 2020-21 in the country and increased its share from 14.1 billion dollars to 16.8 billion dollars. He said that the government is aiming to double the State contribution by 2030 which is currently at 5.8 percent.

Recalling the decline in GSDP across the country from 6.3 percent in 2018-19 to -7.3 percent in 20-21, the Chief Minister said that the State suffered GSDP contraction of only 2.58 percent in 20-21. He said that in the last two years, 16,311 MSMEs have been established in the State by investing Rs 5204 crore and creating employment to over 1.37 lakh people. Also, 68 large mega industries were facilitated to start operations with Rs 30,175 crore by employing around 46,119 people. Similarly, 62 large and mega industries are also being set up at an investment of  Rs 36,384 crore and creating employment to 76,916 people. In the last one year alone, 10 mega projects have been approved which would invest Rs 26391 crore with an employment potential of 55024 people.

Further, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy asserted that Andhra Pradesh is the only State to come up with three industrial corridors Visakhapatnam-Chennai, Chennai-Bengaluru and  Hyderabad-Bengaluru for accelerated industrial development across the State. He stated that the government is also establishing YSR Jagananna Mega Industrial Hub, Kopparthy in 3,155 acres to attract investments of Rs 25,000 Crores and create employment to one lakh youth. In the same Kopparthy, YSR Electronics Manufacturing Cluster (EMC) is being set up in 801 acres with an investment of Rs 730.50 Crores to attract Rs 10,000 Crores investment and 25,000 employment opportunities. Also, to boost exports, the government is setting up 25 secondary food processing units, which provides direct employment to 30,000 people and indirect employment to 50,000 people.

Besides these, the government is also bringing a steel plant at an initiation cost of Rs 13,500 crore with an annual production of 3 million tonnes and establishing a Gas Distribution Network by partnering with GAIL to make the availability of gas much cheaper. To reduce the skill gap, the Government is establishing 25 world-class skill colleges,  one in each parliamentary constituency and two Skill Universities in Tirupati and Visakhapatnam to polish the skills of the students for obtaining good jobs. Having 974 km of coastline as an asset, he said that the government is developing three ports at Bhavanapadu, Machilipatnam and Ramayapatnam and further developing eight new fishing harbors at a cost of Rs 3,828 crores to benefit the fishermen families across the State.

Earlier, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy released the State Exports Action Plan 2021 and launched an e-portal specifically for exports. He visited the stalls set up at the event and sought various details regarding the products. Further, the Chief Minister presented the awards in the name of Industry Champion and Export Champion to various businessmen who have played a pivotal role in the industrial development and growth of exports in the state.

Ministers Mekapati Gautam Reddy, Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, Perni Venkatramaiah, Kurasala Kannababu, Dharmana Krishnadas, Vellampalli Srinivas Rao, Chief Secretary Adityanath Das, Industries Director Subrahmanyam Jawwadi, and other officials were present at the event.

Also Read: Vanijya Utsavam 2021: AP CM YS Jagan Presents Industry, Export Champion Awards