Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Monday made a strong pitch for investments by Australian companies in various sectors in the State to make it one of the best destinations in the country.
Speaking at the India-Australia Summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) at Taj Palace, Delhi, the Chief Minister cited energy, mining, resources, infrastructure, financial services, food security, agriculture, water management, education, tourism and health, technology and IT sector as areas in which Australian companies could invest.
He reiterated that proposals would be cleared by a single desk within 21 days.
Declaring that the Government of India would soon announce a special package to Andhra Pradesh, he expressed confidence that more investors would come to A.P. His government was marching ahead with a vision of seven missions, five grids and four campaigns.
He stated that India and Australia shared a strong and warm friendship based on multicultural democratic traditions and institutions. He said Australia had proved to be an attractive destination for Indian companies.
Highlighting some of the key initiatives, he said the government was in the process of developing a Petroleum and Petrochemical Investment Region between Visakhapatnam and Kakinada region in an extent of 603 sq. km. There was lot of scope for mineral-based industries, besides those relating to leather training, automobile and glass in the Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor.
The Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor has the potential to attract investments in petroleum, steel, fertilizer, power, minerals, edible oil refineries, automobile, textiles, cement, chemical, biotechnology and food processing sectors. Mr. Naidu said the new State was poised to become the logistic hub for the country because of its strategic location. The State was expanding its port infrastructure, road, rail and air connectivity. He also touched upon the potential to attract investments in temple tourism, eco-tourism and adventure tourism.
Referring to the pre-eminence of A.P. in crop production, he said there was a mega opportunity in food processing. “We are promoting mega food parks for accelerating growth in the sector,” he added. The textile and apparel industry is set to grow into a multi-billion dollar opportunity as Andhra Pradesh is the third largest cotton producer in the country.
Besides mentioning about the world-class ‘Pharma City’ near Parwada in Visakhapatnam, the Chief Minister said A.P. was endowed with a large number of mineral resources.
