As decks are being cleared for establishment of major industries in the State, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is working afresh on the strategic blueprint it had brought out in March 2013 for development of the Krishna-West Godavari-Prakasam-Guntur (KGPG) corridor.
It is holding a meeting of MPs from the four coastal districts later this month to unveil the industrial development potential of these predominantly agrarian districts to enable them to step up efforts for ensuring investments by industry majors subsequently.
The development comes in the light of the government’s decision to give ‘deemed approvals’ for new industries on expiry of 30 days after the filing of Industrial Entrepreneurs Memorandum (IEM). Coupled with this is the move to further liberalise procedures for green category industries. The two major policy initiatives are expected to help industrialists avoid the painstaking process of securing clearances for new units from several departments.
On its part, the CII is reaching out to prospective entrepreneurs by focusing on the potential of KGPG corridor in the primary sector, mainly comprising agriculture and allied industries and manufacturing to some extent.
A CII spokesman told The Hindu that the State has tremendous scope for industrialisation and that the government has already made right moves like making some important amendments to the old industrial policy for mobilising investments. Pharmaceuticals, IT, seaports, apparels and food processing were the sectors which many companies, including some multi-national companies and ‘people with ready capital’, were interested in.
Incidentally, Vijayawada figures among 17 metropolitan clusters rated by McKinsey & Company as ‘performing’ alongside Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Nellore, Kadapa and Adilabad.
According to a study done by the global consulting firm, 49 such clusters, including those situated in A..P. and Telangana, are poised to drive about 77 per cent of India’s incremental GDP till 2025. States with per capita GDP between 0.7 and 1.2 times of India’s average were categorised as ‘performing’.
