Andhra sees two lakh jobs from manufacturing sector

Enthused by the growth in industrial investments witnessed during the past three years, the Andhra Pradesh government expects the manufacturing sector to create at least 2 lakh new jobs in the next couple of years as compared with 1.28 lakh jobs estimated to have been created in the last three years.

According to the figures compiled by the state industries commissionerate, units with a combined investment of Rs 10,571 crore were established during the three-year period 2004-07, as compared with Rs 4,524 crore investment that went into the manufacturing sector in three years before that.

The growth trend is equally stronger in small and medium sectors, whose contribution to employment generation would be much larger when compared to large units.

Of the Rs 8,999 crore investments that went into the establishment of units in different manufacturing areas, the share of medium size units with investment between Rs 1 crore and Rs 25 crore stood at Rs 2,510 crore, followed by Rs 4,633 crore investment that went into the establishment of large units of Rs 100 crore and above during the three-year period.

Similarly, investments in the small scale sector during the 2004-07 period rose to Rs 1,572 crore as compared with Rs 699 crore in the three-year period starting from the year 2001.

Basic metals and alloys, paper, pulp and publishing, cotton textiles and jute products, food, agro and marine products are among the major areas where the substantial investments were made under the large and medium industry category.

Food processing, mineral-based industries, metal products, chemical and allied industries, paper products, rubber, plastic and petroleum products occupied a major chunk of manufacturing operations that began in the small scale sector during the three-year period.

"You must do anything and everything to achieve the target of 2 lakh jobs in the manufacturing sector in the next two years. This is possible going by the way the sector is growing in Andhra Pradesh," chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy told the officials at a review meeting here today.

According to a press release issued by the chief minister's office, the government expect around 5.5 lakh jobs through the special economic zones in the next five years including IT/ITeS sectors.