Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has said that transformational changes are taking place in rural hinterlands of the State.
He was addressing a meeting after inaugurating the ITC-Welcome Hotel in Guntur on Wednesday. Chairman and Managing Director, ITC, Sanjay Puri, Minister for Tourism Muttamsetty Srinivas, Minister for Housing Ch. Ranganatha Raju, Minister for Home M. Sucharita, MLCs and MLAs, were present.
“If you go to any village in Andhra Pradesh, you can see transformational changes taking place in the Education, Health and Agricultural sectors. We have 10,700 Rythu Bharosa Kendras across the State, hand-holding the farmers right from what seed, what crop to be planted, to hand-holding the farmers right up to the stage of marketing the produce. The concept of RBK will transform agriculture and the kind of infrastructure being created at the primary processing level and at the secondary processing level. ITC will have an important role to play in food processing, and we hope to have a strong partnership with ITC in sectors pertaining to tourism, food processing and agriculture,” Mr. Jagan said.
The new facility, a five-star Hotel, with a lead platinum certified premises, was a wonderful facility in Guntur, the Chief Minister added.
Mr. Puri said that Andhra Pradesh stood as a role model in inclusive growth and good governance. Mr. Jagan had shown his mettle as an able administrator in dealing with the COVID pandemic. The State had also bagged first rank in Ease of Doing Business.
He said that ITC Ltd had an enduring relationship with farmers in the region and empowering the stakeholders. Guntur was the national headquarters of ITC-ABD and was the global hub of chilli exports.
Further, ITC was committed to an investment of ₹400 crore in food processing industry sector in the State and would continue to partner the State in the agriculture sector, which would bring a socio-economic transformation in the state, Mr. Puri added.