Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has invited domestic and foreign investors to the state, promising faster clearances and a new online mechanism for transferring incentives as the government seeks to accelerate investment in technology, green energy and petrochemicals.
Naidu made the announcement while addressing the curtain-raiser event for the Confederation of Indian Industry’s Partnership Summit. The summit is scheduled to be held in Visakhapatnam on November 12 and 13.
The Chief Minister said the state government was now focusing on the “speed of doing business” and that all clearances would be provided on a real-time basis. He also announced that Andhra Pradesh would inaugurate an escrow account mechanism through which incentives could be transferred online in real time.
The proposed mechanism places the speed of approvals and payments at the centre of the state’s effort to attract investment. The announcement covers both the regulatory process for businesses and the release of incentives promised to investors, although the statement did not specify the sectors, investment thresholds or implementation date for the mechanism.
Naidu said large investments were coming into Andhra Pradesh across sectors including technology, green energy and petrochemicals. He used the event to invite more domestic and international investors to participate in the state’s industrialisation plans.
The Chief Minister also linked investment promotion to entrepreneurship and education. He said the government wanted entrepreneurial skills to be introduced into the curriculum from Class 6 onwards, along with artificial intelligence. According to Naidu, the objective was to encourage more people to become entrepreneurs from the elementary school level.
He cited the state’s DWCRA women’s self-help organisations as a potential source of capital for micro-enterprises. Naidu said 1 crore, or 10 million, women were involved and that their savings had created a corpus of Rs 30,000 crore. He said that if invested, the corpus could support investments of up to Rs 2 lakh crore.
Naidu also referred to the Swayam brand, under which products made by the participating women are being brought under a common identity. He compared the proposed approach with Amul and said the government wanted to expand micro-entrepreneurship, build a common brand and connect producers with global markets.
The statements place the upcoming Partnership Summit within a wider state effort to combine investment facilitation with industrialisation and small-enterprise development. The immediate next milestone is the CII Partnership Summit in Visakhapatnam on November 12-13, where the government is expected to present its investment proposition to domestic and foreign investors.
