Rewind 2023: AP tops in EoDB, but faces investment hurdles

AP’s industrial landscape

• Jindal Steel Plant, greenfield ports, and GMR’s Bhogapuram airport saw development
• Bulk drug park relocation decision finalized
• NTPC’s mega hydrogen project awaits technical clearances
• Infosys development center, new IT policy highlight potential
• Adani, Aurobindo Pharma invested in green biz across the state
• Rs 37,397 cr invested in diverse industries across regions

Visakhapatnam: While the year 2023 began with a lot of hope with the much-hyped response to the Global Investors’ Summit (GIS) organised by the Andhra Pradesh, in the last part of the year there was slowdown in investment flow, to be precise the grounding of projects, due to the uncertainty over the capital shift, elections slated to be held in next few months and the talk of possible policy changes in the poll-eve budgets in the State and at the national level.

Throughout 2023, works on Jindal Steel Plant in Kadapa and greenfield ports at Ramayapatnam, Mulapeta, Machilipatnam and Kakinada gained pace. GMR Group also took up work on the international airport at Bhogapuram. The bulk drug park, for which the Centre sanctioned Rs 1,000 crore for infrastructure, is expected to be grounded soon with the decision of the State Cabinet to relocate it to Nakkapalli in Anakapalle district though originally it was proposed on a private investor’s site at Kakinada.

The mega hydrogen hub proposed by NTPC with massive investment at Pudimadaka is yet to take off due to technical clearances. Except opening of a development centre by Infosys on a rented building at Rushikonda, there was no significant progress to make Visakhapatnam a prominent IT hub. However, the new policy formulated by the government underlined the thrust to strengthen the startup and innovation culture. Renewable energy and creation of jobs have remained the topmost priority.

With high praise from billionaires Mukesh Ambani, Kiran Adani and Navin Jindal, the State continued to top the table in the Ease-of-Doing Business (EoDB) for the third consecutive year and its proactive role has contributed in making the State as the new investment destination in various sectors with the single window clearance policy.

Sustained efforts of the government attracted public sector and industry majors like NTPC, ABC Limited, Oberoi Group, Aurobindo Pharma, Adani Green Energy, AM Green Solar, Aditya Birla, Jindal Steel, K Raheja and Greenlam South Group transforming the State into a launching pad for several eco-friendly industries.

The year witnessed emergence of several food processing, pharmaceutical, hotels, resorts, industrial, solar and green energy units worth Rs 37,397 crore in all regions resulting in equal employment opportunities.

“This justified Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s vision of decentralised development for a balanced growth. The Chief Minister is also credited with the growth of MSMEs by hand-holding them to adopt and implement modern management systems, innovative and management skills in vogue world over,” Industries Minister Gudivada Amarnath said. He said they have digitised land data and created a land bank for allotment to the prospective investors.

The State is setting up MSME parks in all the districts to equip them with Common Facility Centres (CFC) for sharing knowledge, machinery, tools and testing labs for product development. It also helps the State to become the destination for sustainable growth and development with a 59 per cent increase in the number of MSMEs indicating a holistic atmosphere for their sustenance.

The year saw the visit of luminaries in the industrial sector including Mukesh Ambani, Karan Adani, Naveen Jindal, GM Rao, Sumant Sinha, Hari Mohan Bangur, Preetha Reddy, Puneet Dalmia, Sajjan Bhajanka, Sumit Bidani, BVR Mohan Reddy, Sergio Lee, Suchitra K Ella, Santhanam B, Vineet Mittal, Gajanan Nabar, Masahiro Yamaguchi and Martin Eberhard and announcing their investment plans for Andhra Pradesh.