Naidu keen on putting AP at forefront of development

Vijayawada: Stating that there is a Herculean task ahead in setting right the finances of Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said on Thursday that he will strive hard to put the state at the forefront of development with the support of the Government of India.

Addressing a meeting during a visit to Srisailam after offering prayers at Lord Mallikarjuna Swamy and Devi Brahmarbika and offering Jalaharati to River Krishna, he said the erstwhile YSRCP Government had emptied the exchequer due to wasteful expenditure and idiosyncratic style of functioning since it came to power in 2019.

Thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for extending his support to the AP Government for expediting completion of Polavaram and rebuilding Amaravati and taking forward other infrastructure projects, he said TDP is committed to implement all its poll promises and serve the poorer sections with utmost commitment with the support of its allies BJP and Jana Sena Party. He said the TDP, Pawan Kalyan and BJP have come together to accelerate development in AP.

Earlier, at a review meeting at Amaravati on the status of industries, the Chief Minister directed the officials to prepare five policies separately for industries, MSMEs, food processing, electronics, IT and cloud and textiles in the next 100 years. He sent a clear message to the investors, who backed out of their projects in AP after 2019, will be contacted again to revive their projects. He said the need of the hour is to regain their confidence by creating an investment-friendly climate.

Referring to the MoUs signed at CII Partnership Summits organised during TDP’s previous government post-bifurcation, Naidu said his predecessor YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s policies had driven out several of the project proponents from AP. He told the officials during the TDP regime, they had earmarked 14,125 acres for 64 industrial parks as against 31 made available during the YSRCP rule.