AP first in implementing investment proposals

Thursday, 08 January 2004, 20:30 IST
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HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh claims it has moved ahead of all other Indian states by implementing 68 percent of the investment proposals worth 1,362.27 billion that it received between 1991 and 2003. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu told the 10th Partnership Summit of the Confederation of Indian Industry here Wednesday the state occupied the first place in terms of investment proposals implemented. Addressing the summit's opening session and a luncheon session that focussed on Andhra Pradesh, Naidu said the state was also first in terms of live investments worth 301.79 billion in the manufacturing sector. "From 1995 to 2003, industry provided employment to an additional 1.8 million people in the state," he said. Andhra Pradesh had risen to the second position as an investment destination from its ranking of 22nd in 1995. "Our aim is to become number one in the near future," he asserted. The chief minister said the state was in the forefront of implementing second-generation reforms in 1996 and had taken up reforms in the economic, fiscal and power sectors. Apart from public sector reforms, the state has also initiated municipal and labour reforms. These reforms were no longer an option but rather a compulsion. "Andhra Pradesh wants to give a lead to the country in state-level reforms and our aim is to make our state the growth engine for the Indian economy," Naidu explained. Andhra Pradesh, being an investor friendly state, had pushed ahead in attracting investments in many sectors, particularly IT, power, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and food processing. Inviting investors to his state, he said that Andhra Pradesh was blessed with abundant natural resources. It was a state with a strong agricultural base and had the second largest mineral storehouse in India. "Gas strikes in the Krishna-Godavari basin have opened up unimaginable possibilities for the rapid development of the state," he noted. The state was keen to invite private investment in major infrastructure sectors like seaports, airports, roads and bridges.
Source: IANS