New industrial policy on the anvil: Naidu

• AP CM blames previous Congress govt for economic ills
  
• Corruption, quid pro quo deals dented Hyderabad’s brand image
  
• Promises to develop State on a par with Japan in industrial growth

Hyderabad: Holding the previous Congress government responsible for the dismal growth in the industrial sector in the undivided state, AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday said a new industrial policy aiming to generate employment and wealth on a large scale would be brought into force soon.

Releasing the white paper on industry, infrastructure and employment here, he said the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh has compounded the problems of the residuary state. It is not only facing revenue deficit but is also devoid of adequate industrial base as well as physical, social and educational infrastructure.

He said all this had happened because of lack of foresight, corruption, quid pro quo deals in the land allotments and irregularities in mining leading to denting of the brand image of Hyderabad and AP during the 10 year Congress rule. People had lost their hopes to get jobs and investors left the state scared of rampant corruption in the government.

Announcing that the state would adopt a ' corridor concept' for development with emphasis on industrial growth, Naidu said he would focus on infrastructure development like setting up of maritime board, developing new seaports, improve national highways further, provide excellent connectivity to Rayalaseema districts to the State capital and development of Vijayawada, Tirupati and Visakhapatnam as international airport as well as setting up of minor airports in places like Nellore, Kakinada, Kurnool, provision of industrial water supply etc. would be given priority. Besides, several sectoral policies like policy for Textiles, Food Processing, Renewable Energy, Tourism and IT, etc would be brought into force.

He said he was now concentrating on providing good leadership, provide vision and create a team of committed officers so that the system can get energised which will help in achieving the goals.

Naidu said, henceforth, his tag line to AP would be- country of rising sun- as it is in the middle of the country's east coast where exactly the sun rises. “I will soon transform it into a Japan in the industrial development. I will soon unveil industrial policies of our government, sector-wise, to make it a happening State on industrial and infrastructure front," Naidu told reporters while releasing white paper on industrial, infrastructure and employment situation in the AP. He said 64,000 medium and small manufacturing units in the state have been closed resulting in a loss of Rs 6,500 crore revenue and 2.30 lakh jobs were lost due to the lopsided policies adopted by the previous government. The VANPIC project also failed as the government allotted lands on quid pro quo to some contractors. The lands allotted to Lepakshi Knowledge Hub and Brahmani steels were misused. Most of the lands in SEZs were misused and in some cases the zones were not operational, he said. The automobile projects – Volkswagen and Seimens in Visakhatapnam, Royal Enfield in Chittoor and Tata Nano car projects which were to have been locatged in planned in Ranga Reddy district were shifted to other states because of the government's failure in convincing the investors and the corrupt practices, Naidu added.