Navya Andhra Pradesh (the new AP after bifurcation) is making its first serious attempt to woo investors by holding the Partnership Summit here in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) from January 10 to 12.

The State government is going all out to make it a success with the Chief Minister camping here on all the three days and “marketing” the State to investors from over 30 countries as well as from other parts of the country. It is expected that nearly 1,000 delegates will attend the meet, 300 of them from abroad.

Policy frameworks Since coming to power in 2014, the Chandrababu Naidu government has unveiled industrial policy, tourism policy and IT policy to facilitate free flow of investment into the state and to make it easier for entrepreneurs to set up units here. Entrepreneurs have been promised speedy clearances and the State government has taken steps to improve the power situation. The government will focus on these factors to attract prospective entrepreneurs.

IT sector Though the Chief Minister has been talking of turning Visakhapatnam into a great IT destination, there has been no real impetus to the growth of the IT sector in the city so far.

It is still in a nascent stage with the IT exports hovering in the range of ₹1,500 crore a year. There are only a few major IT companies such as HSBC, TechMahindra and Wipro and a number of smaller companies. The smaller IT companies in the two IT special economic zones atop Rushikonda are facing some problems and in spite of promises, they have not been sorted out.

Barring a few small IT units in Kakinada and Vijayawada, IT has not made any inroads into the other coastal towns or Rayalaseema towns. It will, therefore, be quite a task for the State government to promote IT software units but there is potential for promoting hardware units and electronic manufacturing clusters. The Centre has also identified Kakinada as an ideal location for setting up a hardware cluster.

Tourism The tourism is another major area of focus as the State boasts a long coastline and several ancient temples besides many Buddhist sites spread all over the State.

Amaravati in Guntur district, where the new capital is coming up, is the most important ancient Buddhist site in the State, drawing pilgrims and visitors from all over. Once the capital region is developed and the Vijayawada airport upgraded, Amaravati is expected to be a major tourist destination.

Industrial base Andhra Pradesh, even prior to bifurcation, was a predominantly agricultural State, with the industries concentrated in and around Hyderabad. The nine coastal districts and Rayalaseema (four districts) remained largely neglected in industrialisation.

Except for Visakhpatnam, which boasts of major steel plant and a few other notable public sector units, there is no major industrial centre in the State. It is now an onerous task for the State government to correct the mistakes of the past and build a strong industrial base without adversely affecting the agricultural sector.

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