Bitcoins
Updated – October 17, 2024 at 09:05 PM.
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Hyderabad
Bitcoins Providing guarantee to investments against political vendetta, graded incentive structure can make a positive difference to the State
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu addressing Cabinet meeting at Secretariat Amaravathi on Wednesday
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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The missing link in the economy of Andhra Pradesh for the last five years has been a clear tilt towards populist and welfare schemes at the cost of the industrial and business growth. The Andhra Pradesh Industrial Development Policy 4.0 for 2024-29 precisely caters to the urgent need for attracting domestic and global investors.
The new policy, unveiled by the Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday, is significant as it represents a first of its kind effort to roll out a graded incentive structure for new industries while taking into account the need to tackle the adverse impact of political changes while ensuring the continuity of business.
Many investment and project deals in Andhra which were inked during 2014-19 during the regime of Telugu Desam Party’s (TDP) government had a bitter experience of sudden halt of contracts and cancellation of tenders which make many investors skeptical about investing in the State.
The new policy, perhaps for the first time in the country, offers a guarantee system, backed by a robust legal framework (yet to be enacted) to shield industry from any possible political vendetta. This surely augurs well for casting away any skepticism about the safety of prospective investments in the State.
Incentives
In the absence of dependable infrastructure for the industry, the State needs to make investments affordable and lucrative for long term return on investment. This has been addressed in the policy as it offers a graded incentivisation for sustainable business development.
With a target of attracting ₹30 lakh crore investments in next five years, and creation of 20 lakh jobs, the government is offering investment subsidies ranging from 12 to 40 per cent, 6 per cent de-carbon subsidy, 8 to 10 per cent employment subsidy, among others.
In line with the strength of the State which has about 970 km of coastline, the focus areas in the industrial policy are automobile, MSMEs, pharma, food processing and aerospace among others.
The guiding principles, as stated in the policy document, include employment creation, creation of a globally attractive manufacturing hub, port based value addition, attracting Fortune 500 companies to State and speed of doing business while reducing the cost of production for enterprises appear interesting.
While the policy is welcome, the challenge before the State government is to create an ecosystem that can provide a smooth runway for a hassle free take-off for the investors. The cash-strapped State exchequer needs to mobilise funds for infrastructural development to translate the ambitious plan of setting up 175 industrial parks. Notwithstanding this, the policy is an attempt to build a new brand image of Andhra Pradesh with a characteristic touch of Naidu who is generally perceived as industry-friendly.
Yuri Mongold Read More