Andhra Pradesh, which already is an attractive destination for the manufacturing industry, is expected to get investments worth Rs 38,000 crore.
Stating this Geeta Reddy, state minister for major industries, sugar, commerce & export promotion, told Business Standard that in the last four years Andhra had attracted as much as Rs 17,000 crore investments in various sectors.
In addition to the Rs 38,000-crore already approved by the government, applications worth Rs 78,000 crore are pending, the minister said. Steel, cement, automobile and paper industries are the main drivers.
“Major players are impressed with Andhra Pradesh’s vast natural resources like iron ore and coal, a major input for steel manufacturers,” she said.
Giving an overview of the state’s industrial policy, the minister said in the last four years the government had taken several initiatives to attract new industries.
The industrial investment promotional policy is offering various incentives including concessional power tariff, 25 per cent value added tax (VAT) reimbursement, 100 per cent reimbursement of stamp duty and registration fee and special incentive packages for mega projects with an investment of over Rs 100 crore and a single window clearance.
The new and existing industries are investing "in a massive scale" due to these facilities. For instance, biotechnology in the last four years has seen investments worth Rs 3,800 crore and has created jobs for around 67,000 people.
This apart, investments worth Rs 2,500 crore are in the pipeline in biotechnology. Encouraged by these developments, the government has decided to allot 250 acres to the sector.
Another attractive area is the petro-chemical region, thanks to the Krishna Godavari gas finds. To attract more industries to this field, the government is setting up the Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR) on 148,700 acres along the Visakhapatnam-Kakinada-Rajahmundry corridor.
The PCPIR will comprise five special economic zones (SEZs). Over 30,000 acres of processing area is ready for the five notified SEZs.
On the steel front, of the country's total steel production of 45.69 million tonnes last year, the state's share stood at 18 million tonnes . The steel industry has so far invested around Rs 35,000 crore in Andhra Pradesh and created 125,000 jobs.
The production is expected to get a further boost in the next two to three years as major units have lined up capacity expansion plans.
For instance, the Vizag steel plant plans to double capacity to six million tonnes from three million tonnes, with an investment of Rs 6,500 crore.
Similarly, Brahmani Steels in Kadapa is also planning to invest Rs 4,000 crore in phases.
