MSMEs will drive Andhra's economic shift: CM Naidu

■ Andhra Pradesh plans to establish MSME industrial parks in every Assembly constituency and create 100 unicorns.

■ Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu virtually laid foundation stones for 38 new MSME parks with plug-and-play infrastructure.

■ The government announced a Rs 200 crore Cluster Development Programme and released Rs 500 crore in industrial incentives.

■ Five lakh women are set to be promoted as entrepreneurs this year through DWCRA support, startup initiatives and rural entrepreneurship centres.

■ Agreements with Meta, Amazon and Zoho aim to boost investment, innovation and employment in strategic sectors.

The Chief Minister said DWCRA women’s groups currently have access to a corpus fund of Rs 28,000 crore and announced plans to turn five lakh women into entrepreneurs this year

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Monday said MSMEs will drive the State’s economic transformation and announced plans to establish industrial parks in every Assembly constituency while targeting the creation of 100 unicorns.

Addressing the ‘One Family-One Entrepreneur’ MSME Growth Summit in Vijayawada at the newly inaugurated Dr BR Ambedkar Kalavedika, Naidu said MSMEs would lead Andhra Pradesh’s next phase of economic growth through industrial parks, startup support and initiatives for women entrepreneurs.

He virtually laid the foundation stone for 38 MSME parks designed to provide plug-and-play infrastructure and improve ease of establishing enterprises. The Chief Minister said the government had introduced a dedicated MSME policy along with policies for private industrial parks and had brought startups, industrial units, financial institutions and experts onto a common platform through the summit.

Calling for large-scale industrialisation under the One Family-One Entrepreneur initiative, Naidu said the government had already released industrial incentives worth Rs 500 crore. He also announced a Rs 200 crore Cluster Development Programme and said one MSME park would come up in every constituency.

Naidu said foundation stones for 100 industrial parks had already been laid earlier and thanked farmers for providing land without disputes. Referring to industrial models such as Sri City, he said Andhra Pradesh aimed to strengthen entrepreneurship and employment through industrial expansion.

The Chief Minister said DWCRA women’s groups currently have access to a corpus fund of Rs 28,000 crore and announced plans to turn five lakh women into entrepreneurs this year. He also announced startup promotion through the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub and launched RuTAG Smart Village Centre Extension centres in Kuppam, Mangalagiri and Pithapuram to encourage rural entrepreneurship.

The government also issued orders releasing Rs 200 crore for common facility centres in 45 industrial clusters. Stressing that the future belongs to the knowledge economy, Naidu said the State’s vision was centred on “Village to Global Market” and creating a circular economy.

He said agreements had been signed with companies including Meta, Amazon and Zoho to promote investment and entrepreneurship. More than 1,500 participants attended the summit.