Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu today said the focus of the State now is on transforming Anantapur in particular and Rayalaseema region in Andhra Pradesh into a major automotive hub in the country.

Speaking at the installation ceremony of the Kia Motors manufacturing plant coming up near Anantapur, about 180 km from Bengaluru, Naidu said Japanese auto company Isuzu, two-wheeler major Hero MotoCorp, Apollo Tyres, Bharat Forge and Brakes India have already made AP their manufacturing hubs.

While Amara Raja Batteries has a big presence in the State, Ashok Leyland and Vira Vahana are keen to make it their hub. The State has managed to attract $3.7 billion in the auto sector, he said. The latest addition of Kia Motors will not only make it a major anchor investor but also attract other manufacturers to the State. Located on the Bengaluru-Hyderabad Highway and close to the Chennai-Vizag Industrial Corridor and the Krishnapatnam port, its infrastructure is ideally suited for automotive companies.

“The Kia’s choice of Anantapur to locate their plant is a vindication of my administration’s efforts to boost the automotive sector prospects in the State. Soon, Hero Motocorp, which has signed up for investments for a plant in the State will also commence works. We are also in talks with other manufacturers but it may not be appropriate to discuss their names for competitive reasons,” Naidu said when asked if Suzuki was in talks for a two-wheeler plant.

He said the Kia’s investment of $1.1 billion committed by it would be one of the biggest such foreign direct investments to be committed in India by an automotive sector company.

Investment flow

Referring to the investments in the State over the past three and a half years, Naidu said that so far 1,946 MoUs have been signed with a potential total investment of over ₹13 lakh crore and employment of about 32 lakh jobs.

“During my earlier stint as Chief Minister, I had closed in on finalising greenfield projects of Volkswagen AG and Proton. However, Volkswagen decided on another location and Proton had dropped their plans for a plant,” he said.

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