Andhra FM pitches sustainable growth with TN ahead of investors meet

CHENNAI: Terming Tamil Nadu a ‘sibling state,’ Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath Friday said the two states have a strong foundation of their diversified portfolio of economic activity and can grow together to achieve sustainable development.

“We are leveraging our geographical advantage of being in proximity to the city of Chennai. It is one of the top industrialised states in the country and has been at the forefront of industrial development for the past few decades, “ said the minister at Chennai Roadshow, an investment drive conducted ahead of Andhra Pradesh Global Investors Summit 2023, which would be held on March 3 and 4 in Visakhapatnam.

There are various sectors where both the states can work hand-in-hand like agriculture, maritime, infrastructure, green energy, logistics, and tourism, the minister said.

He said, “Tamil Nadu is one of the top industrialized states in the country and has been at the forefront of industrial development for the past few decades due to the strategic advantage that they had.”

Apart from the two states working in collaboration in traditional sectors like automobile, textiles, and maritime infrastructure, they can focus on forward-looking sectors such as IT, global capability centres, emerging technologies, defence and electric vehicles, the minister said.

“Andhra Pradesh is hardwired to lead the Indian growth story and we want investors to take advantage of the opportunity and be a part of this journey, “ he said.

The minister added that they are providing 48,352 acres of land bank for industrial development. He said that in the last 3.5 years, Andhra Pradesh has approved investments to the tune of Rs.1.9 lakh crore. It is also spending significant amount of its budget on developing air connectivity in the state, with a Greenfield international airport coming up at Bhogapuram in Visakhapatnam at a cost of Rs. 2,500 crores.