Andhra Pradesh Industries and IT Minister Gudivada Amarnath emphatically stated that AP is heading towards becoming the best destination for investment in the country. Amarnath was speaking at a roadshow in Hyderabad today ahead of the Global Investment Summit (GIS) 2023 which will be held in Visakhapatnam on March 3 and 4.
Earlier this month, roadshows were conducted by the State government in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai. The aim was to give businesses and investors a taste of what’s to come at the summit.
Speaking about the development plans of the Jaganmohan Reddy government, Amarnath said, “Our focus is on building Visakhapatnam as the next global IT destination. Andhra Pradesh is the only state with three industrial corridors i.e Visakhapatnam-Chennai, Chennai-Bengaluru and Hyderabad-Bengaluru where we have 48,000 acres of land for industrial allocation.”
“Andhra Pradesh is the only state in South India to get a Bulk Drug Park. Also, AP has been ranked number one in Ease of Doing Business for the last three consecutive years. With a new policy coming up for 2023-2028 in next few days, we are aiming to create an inclusive and balanced regional development, promote startup culture and ensure skill development,” Amarnath added.
Taking the stage at the road show, Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath highlighted all the major corporates that have set shop in the last few years in the state.
“Andhra Pradesh is a gateway for Asian countries for all exports and imports. In the automotive sector, corporates such as Ashok Leyland, Kia, Hero, Isuzu, Apollo, Yokohama, Bharat Forge are operating from AP. In electronics sector, we have prominent names like Bluestar, Foxconn, Daikin, Panasonic and WinTech working from here.
“It is not just Hyderabad which is a base for pharmaceuticals, Apart from host of names, we have Mylan, Biocon, Lueben, Hetero, Laures Labs, Divis Laboratories, Aurobindo Pharma, GSK, Dr Reddy’s and Apollo functioning from the state. This shows that we a have perfect ecosystem for business expansion. All this reiterates AP’s Number 1 position in Ease of Doing Business for three consecutive years,” he explained.
Giving an interesting titbit about AP, Bharath Kumar Thota, Chief Operating Officer, AP Food Processing Department, said, “70% of the Cocoa production comes from Andhra Pradesh. AP is not just a rice bowl, but also choclate bowl of the country. Whether its Cadbury or Nestle it is made from the Cocoa that comes from Andhra Pradesh.”
“Also, AP is the largest pulp exporter. Be it Tropicana or companies manufacturing other fruit-based derivatives, most of the pulp comes from Chittoor and Anantapur districts of Andhra Pradesh,” he added.