Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has asserted that India will be able to accomplish the vision of a ‘Vikasit Bharat’ (developed country) only when all the States work together as a team to achieve the targeted socio-economic objectives.
Addressing the NITI Aayog governing council meeting in New Delhi on May 27 (Saturday), Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy insisted that the combined share of the manufacturing and services sectors in the GDP should surpass 85%, which pales in comparison with the global average of 91.50%. To make it a reality, focus should be laid on agriculture and on attracting investments into other sectors that played a catalytic role in the economy.
Logistics cost
He also insisted that the logistics cost in India should be brought down well below 14% of the GDP if the country’s full export potential was to be realised. While pointing out that the logistics cost in the U.S. was only 7.50%, he suggested that priority be attached to the development of the national highways and freight corridors.
Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said skill development should be another thrust area to make the most of India’s large population in the productive age group, by drawing lessons from advanced countries like Germany, which were grappling with the problem of shrinking workforce due to low birth rates.
Youth should be equipped with skills required to deal with disruptive technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning and large language models, and the curriculum laid down accordingly, he opined.
Seaport-led development
He said the Andhra Pradesh government gave top priority to seaport-led development. As part of it, four new ports and 10 fishing harbours were being constructed. Besides, the government was developing airports, mainly including an international airport at Bhogapuram in Vizianagaram district, in public private partnership mode.
He stated that the State was consistently ranked No.1 in the Ease of Doing Business (EoB) for the last three years, and efforts were being made to hold on to that position. The process of obtaining approvals has further been simplified and legal impediments, if any, were removed.
He said the State garnered investments amounting to ₹13 lakh crore at the Global Investors Summit held in Visakhapatnam. Nearly six lakh jobs were going to be created by the companies that committed those investments.
Further, he said the Non-Communicable Disease burden should be brought down, and greater focus laid on achieving public health and nutritional outcomes.
On its part, the A.P. government had set up 10,592 ward and village clinics and introduced the family doctor concept to take healthcare services to the people’s doorstep. A comprehensive approach had been taken to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, he said.
More importantly, 12 new medical colleges were being set up. Women empowerment ranked fairly high on the government’s agenda, he said, adding that a slew of welfare schemes were being implemented to improve the lot of the poor.
