Jagan forms high-power panel to track down progress of investments

Visakhapatnam Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Saturday announced the constitution of a high-power committee led by Chief Secretary K.S. Jawahar Reddy to monitor the implementation of the MoUs signed at the two-day Global Investors' Summit (GIS).

Thanking the investors who turned up at the summit for signing MoUs with an investment of over Rs.13 lakh crore reposing faith in the practice policies of the State Government, he said to monitor the progress regularly and intervene whenever they find hardship with regard to grounding of the projects on a fast-track mode. The committee will comprise Special Chief Secretary, Industries R. Karikal Valavan and the senior officials of the Chief Minister's Office (CMO).

Union Minister for Shipping Sarbananda Sonowal and Tourism Minister G. Kishan Reddy who addressed the concluding ceremony of the summit said in true letter and spirit of cooperative federalism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is committed to extend wholehearted support to AP to accelerate growth. While Kishan Reddy said AP had a bright future in pharma, tourism, petrochemical, engineering goods and seafood sectors, Sonowal said the maritime cruise terminal being implemented by the Visakhapatnam Port Authority (VPA) will be completed next month. Sonowal said the Centre under Sagarmala had sanctioned modernisation of Visakhapatnam Fishing Harbour at a cost of Rs.150 crore.

Winding up the discussions at the summit, the Chief Minister global as well as Indian business houses have recognised the competitive advantage of Andhra Pradesh in key sectors. Energy including renewables attracted the highest investment followed by IT and ITES, tourism, pharma and healthcare, and manufacturing among others.

Reddy assured the investors of continued monitoring and cooperation of the government to demonstrate the “speed of facilitating business.” He said "I wish to point out that one of the sectors into which significant investments are committed is the renewable energy sector. These proposed investments into renewable energy generation, pumped storage and production of green hydrogen and green ammonia, will go a long way in mitigating the intermittency associated with renewable energy and render it a credible alternative to fossil fuel-based generation."

He said AP is committed to make a significant contribution in green energy space to India’s commitment towards achieving net zero.” Earlier, he remotely inaugurated 14 industrial facilities spread over Sri City, Pydibhimavaram, Tirupati and AP Special Economic Zone- Atchutapuram with an investment of nearly Rs.4,000 crore and a potential to create jobs for 9,108 workers.

The summit saw 15 sector sessions with over 100 speakers showcasing AP’s growing strengths. The focus sectors included automobile & EV, healthcare & medical equipment, renewable energy, green hydrogen, green ammonia, agri processing tourism. In addition to this, four country sessions with UAE, Netherlands, Vietnam, and Western Australia were organised to explore opportunities for collaboration with AP.