Turn district resources into wealth, CM tells Collectors

Amaravati: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has directed the District Collectors to unlock the potential of their districts, effectively market local resources and accelerate economic growth to achieve the State’s GSDP targets.

Addressing the 8th Collectors’ Conference on Thursday, the Chief Minister asked RTGS officials to provide district-wise growth data to Ministers and Collectors to help them identify opportunities and monitor targets.

Officials said the Centre had fixed 2022-23 as the base year for assessing various economic parameters. The projected growth rate for 2026–27 at current prices is 13.44 per cent. During the first quarter, GVA growth stood at 14.19 per cent in agriculture and allied sectors, 14.81 per cent in industry and 12.70 per cent in services. Aquaculture recorded a particularly high growth of 31.77 per cent, with production reaching 6.61 lakh metric tonnes.

Power generation increased from 24,248 million units to 28,664 million units, while consumption rose 14.28 per cent. Industrial GVA stood at Rs 1,13,638 crore and services GVA at Rs 1,60,107 crore during the quarter. GST revenue also increased by 18 per cent.

The CM said 359 projects approved in 20 SIPB meetings had the potential to bring Rs 13.85 lakh crore investment and 10.6 lakh jobs. Of these, 160 projects have already commenced, involving Rs 4.03 lakh crore investment and expected employment for 5.9 lakh people.

Naidu directed the Collectors to give priority to grounding the remaining approved projects, finalise commencement dates and coordinate with Ministers and public representatives to remove bottlenecks. Officials also noted that Andhra Pradesh had become the first State to establish an Artificial Intelligence Task Force.

Officials said Andhra Pradesh has 23.85 lakh MSMEs across manufacturing, services and trade. Of 175 proposed MSME parks, 138 have been approved, with 22 operational and 116 under construction.

These parks are expected to attract Rs 2,036 crore and create 31,163 jobs.

Investment conferences will be held in Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Amaravati, Anantapur and Tirupati, with regional meets planned in October and a partnership summit in November. Naidu also directed officials to notify existing helipads and link them with tourism, besides preparing proposals for night-landing facilities at district headquarters with Central approval. He ordered an action plan for Road Over Bridges and Road under Bridges and called for coordinated progress in development, investment and infrastructure across districts.

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