The opening day of the two-day first Global Investors Summit organised by the State Government attracted investments to the tune of ₹13 lakh crore involving 340 proposals, at Visakhapatnam on Friday.
Delivering the inaugural address, the Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy said that the investments would generate about six lakh employment opportunities in Andhra Pradesh, across 20 sectors.
On the first day of the summit, a total of 92 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed amounting to ₹11,87,756 crore, to generate 3.92 lakh jobs in the State. On the second day (Saturday), the remaining 248 MoUs would be signed which would generate employment for about 2 lakh people, he said.
Major investors
The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) is amongst the major investors, and signed three MoUs with an investment of ₹2,35,000 crore and employment generation for 77,000 people. The JSW Group signed six MoUs, the largest amongst the lot with an investment of ₹50,632 crore which will generate employment for 9,500 people. ABC Limited has signed an MoU for ₹1.2 lakh crore investments, generating employment for 7,000 people. The Aurobindo Group signed five MoUs for ₹10,365 crore which will create employment for 5,250 people. Adani Green Energy has signed two MoUs involving an investment of ₹21,820 crore and employment generation for 14,000 people. The Aditya Birla Group signed two MoUs for ₹9,300 crore, which will generate employment for 2,850 people. Jindal Steel signed one MoU for ₹7,500 crore and it is expected to provide employment for 2,500 people.
Key sectors
Sector-wise the Energy Department attracted 35 proposals for ₹8.25 lakh crore investment, generating 1.33 lakh employment opportunities followed by the Industries & Commerce that attracted around 41 proposals involving an investment of ₹3.2 lakh crore that will generate 1.79 lakh jobs. The IT and ITES Department managed to get six proposals with an investment of ₹32,944 crore with a potential to create employment for 64,815 people. The Tourism Department drew 10 proposals with an investment of ₹8,718 crore which will generate employment for 13,400 people.
Executive capital
In his speech, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said that Visakhapatnam had all the trappings to attract investment and very soon the city would become the Executive capital of the State and he would be moving to the city in a short time from now.
He said 2023 was a historic year for the country and the presidency of the G20 was now with India and Visakhapatnam would be hosting the two-day Working Committee Meeting for G20 from March 28.
“A.P. is a blessed State as it has abundant natural resources, skilled human resources and the second longest coastline of 974 km. We have three of the 11 sanctioned industrial corridors running through the State and A.P. has the highest GSDP of 11.43%. We have also been on the top for three consecutive years in the ease of doing business (EoDB),” he said.
Four growth drivers
The Chief Minister said that his government was focussing on four key economic drivers such as green energy, industries and logistics, digitisation and enterprise skill development.
The State was working towards achieving 82 GW of green energy in the form of solar, wing and pump storage projects. “We will also be the leading State in production and consumption of green hydrogen,” he said.
Efforts were on to build five new multi-modal logistic parks, nine fishing harbours, four new ports and sector-based economic zones.
“On the digitisation front, we have opened the single window clearance, wherein proposals can be cleared in 21 days and on the skill development front, the State is planning to open 26 skill development colleges,” Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said.
The industry doyens who were present included the Chairman of Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of JSW Steel Group Naveen Jindal, Managing Director of Shree Cement Hari Mohan Bangur, Vice-Chairperson of Apollo group Preetha Reddy, Chairman of GMR Group G.M. Rao, founder Chairman of Cyient B.V.R. Mohan Reddy and co-founder and former CEO of Tesla Martin Eberhard and a few others.
Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy, IT and Industries Minister Gudivada Amarnath, Chief Secretary Jawahar Reddy and Director of Industries G. Srijana spoke.
The event was held at Andhra University Engineering College grounds and 200 stalls were set up, including over 30 showcasing the various advantages of investing in Andhra Pradesh in 14 crucial sectors identified by the government.
