Vijayawada, September 04, 2021: The Andhra Pradesh government on Saturday released Rs 1,124 crore as incentives for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and textile units across the state to benefit 97,423 units and over 12 lakh employees.
The Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy released Rs 440 crore to MSMEs and Rs 684 crore to textile and spinning mills, including the rebate on electricity bills.
According to the government, the state had spent a total of Rs 2,086 crore on the MSME sector, which includes clearing the pending arrears left by the previous government totalling around Rs 1,588 crore. About 62 per cent of the MSMEs which were run by the BC, SC, ST and minorities and 42 per cent that are operated by women have been benefited from the government’s incentives.
Speaking on the occasion, Reddy said that the government has been embarking to support MSMEs and spinning mills. He said that supporting MSMEs is more like saving the state economy amidst the pandemic crisis when the world economy is at minus 5.2 per cent and even the global markets have been eroded due to Covid.
“If there is no purchasing capacity among the people, the industrial sector will decline. Therefore, despite the debt, we are carrying out welfare and development programs,” Reddy said.
He objected that the Opposition parties making a negative campaign on debts.
He said, in the last 27 months, the government provided over 25 welfare schemes to the people without allowing discrimination and corruption even in difficult times, due to which the purchasing power has been sustained eventually leading to the sustainment of the MSME and industrial sector.
The Chief Minister said that in the last two years, 68 major industries have invested capital of Rs 30,175 crore and provided direct employment to 46,199 people.
In addition, by investing Rs 34,384 crore, another 62 mega industries are also being set up and employ 76,916 people, he added.
Reddy stated that the government had already made an act to provide 75 per cent of the jobs to locals which benefits the unemployed youth. The government is setting up YSR Electronics Manufacturing Cluster (EMC) in Kopparthi at a cost of Rs 730.50 crore in 801 acres to attract investments from domestic and global companies worth about Rs 10,000 crore in electronics manufacturing that would provide employment to 30,000 people in the next two years.
Similarly, YSR Jagananna Mega Industrial Hub is also being set up on 3155 acres in Kopparthi, to attract investments worth Rs 25,000 crore and create jobs for over 75,000 people according to the reports published in news18.com.
He said that the government has focussed on providing water, power and roads which are essential for establishing industries. The government is going to set up a 10,000 MW solar project by inviting investment of Rs 30,000 crore for producing power costing only Rs 2.48 per unit, to provide free and quality electricity to farmers for another 30 years. As part of the Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor, the government is developing the Krishnapatnam Green Field Industrial Node in an area of 13,000 acres at an estimated cost of Rs 2139 crore.
Despite promising to set up a steel plant in Kadapa under the State Reorganisation Act, the Centre is yet to act upon its promise. The state government has stepped in to set up a plant with private companies to produce a capacity of three million tonnes. The government established the YSR Steel Corporation Ltd. at a cost of about Rs 13,500 crore. Besides these, the government is setting up nine fishing harbours for Rs 3,827 crore, developing three industrial corridors, and mooted to complete three greenfield ports at Bhavanapadu, Machilipatnam and Ramayapatnam by 2024 for Rs 13,000 crore.
Chief Minister said that the government is also focused on constructing Bhogapuram Greenfield Airport in PPP mode for Rs 3,000 crore. The government is going to set up 25 secondary food processing units one in each parliamentary constituency at a cost of about Rs 2,500 crore. Similarly, the state is setting up 23 pre-processing units and 10 processing units along with 100 aqua hubs and 14,500 retail shops are also being set up to increase the local consumption of aqua products. The government is investing Rs 1,200 crore, which will provide employment to 1,01,500 people.
Reddy said Andhra Pradesh had topped the national survey on State Business Reform Action Plan and opined that the survey was an example of how much entrepreneurs have faith in the state government.
Industries Minister Mekapati Gautam Reddy, AP MSME Development Corporation Chairman Vanka Ravindranath, APIIC Chairman Mettu Govinda Reddy, APIDC Chairman Bandi Punyaseela, AP Maritime Board Chairman Kayala Venkat Reddy, Industries Special Chief Secretary Karikala Valavan, Industries Advisors Sridhar Lanka, Rajiv Krishna and other officials were present at the event.
