Ten lakh houses to be completed by year end: CM

Agricultural sector to be strengthened with Agritech and five point strategy: CM

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said that the state government determined to complete ten lakh house warming ceremonies by this year end with an aim to fulfill the dreams of poor. He said  that house-warming ceremonies have already been conducted for approximately 3 lakh houses so far. Speaking in the Assembly today during  discussion on  Housing and Agriculture  budgets, the Chief Minister briefed members on various initiatives undertaken by the government .

The Chief Minister said 2.20 lakh families do not own house sites in the state and the government is makingefforts to distribute free house sites—2 cents in urban areas and 3 cents in rural areas—to all eligible beneficiaries. By Ugadi this year house-warming ceremonies for around 3 lakh houses will be completed. A target was  set  to complete 2.26 lakh houses by June and 2.10 lakh houses by September. The Central and State governments together are committed to providing houses for all.

The Chief Minister said agriculture sector will be strengthened with Agritech and a five-point strategy including water security, demand-driven crops, food processing, marketing and government support. Andhra Pradesh contributes 10 per cent  to the national gross agricultural output. As part of the initiative

 substantial budget allocations made  for free electricity to farmers. There are 22.5 lakh agricultural pump sets in the state. This year 69,000 new connections will be added. For 2025–26  Rs 13,722 crore allocated for free electricity.

The Chief Minister said ensuring transparency in paddy procurement government making payments within 24 hours and directly paid Rs 10,816 crore to farmers and  cleared Rs 1,670 crore  dues left unpaid by the previous government. Along with farm mechanization, AI-based services will be made available to farmers,” the Chief Minister said.He said the state attracted Investments in Food Processing worth Rs 14230 crore. About 15 lakh farmers across 8,168 villages are practicing natural farming. Our goal is to expand this to 50 lakh acres.

The government aims to develop Rayalaseema as a horticulture hub. Currently, horticulture production stands at 400 million metric tonnes and  aim to increase it to 1,000 million metric tonnes. For horticulture development in Rayalaseema the government initiated a cluster plan worth Rs 30,000 crore. The government providing electricity to the aqua sector at Rs 1.50 per unit and will develop Andhra Pradesh into an aquaculture hub. A world’s largest Cocoa City will be established in Eluru.

The increase in groundwater has resulted in electricity savings worth Rs 95 crore. Horticulture crops have expanded over 20,000 hectares, contributing Rs 1,634 crore to GSDP growth, the Chief Minister added.