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Andhra Pradesh will see a huge spike in investment at the investors' summit at Visakhapatnam next month, state Information and Public Relations Minister Chelluboina Venugopala Krishna said on Monday.

Claiming that Andhra Pradesh has done exceptionally well under the YSRCP government to attract investments, he told reporters that by creating favourable conditions and industrial-friendly policies, the government headed by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has succeeded in converting Andhra Pradesh into an investment hub and a shining example of India's development.

The minister said that Andhra Pradesh is the fastest-growing state in the country with a GSDP of 11.43 per cent in 2021-22, which is 2.73 per cent higher than the national growth rate. Even in Covid times, when the Centre's growth rate was declining at minus 6.6 per cent, Andhra Pradesh recorded a positive growth rate of 0.08 per cent. Another remarkable statistic is that Andhra Pradesh's per capita income is 38.5 per cent higher than the rest of the nation.

He quoted the Department for Promotion of Industry report that by the end of July 2022, investments of Rs 1,71,285 crore had come into India of which Andhra Pradesh's share of investments stood at Rs 40,361 crore, the highest-ever across the country.

He noted that Andhra Pradesh State Investment Promotion Board (SIPB) approved investments of Rs 23,985 crore back in December 2022. This comprises Rs 8,800 crore by JSW Steels, Rs 6,330 crore for a steel plant in Kadapa, Rs 6,330 crore by Adani Green Energy and Rs 8,855 crore by Shirdi Sai Electricals for a hydro storage project.

Expressing his satisfaction with the investment policies in the state, he said that Andhra Pradesh had ranked first in the country in Ease of Doing Business for four consecutive years since the YSRCP government came to power. "We are proud of what Andhra Pradesh has achieved despite what happened to us during bifurcation. We are a shining example of development," he said, adding that the YSRCP is still paying off debts taken by the previous TDP regime.

Elaborating on CM's extended support to the MSME (medium and small medium enterprises) sector, the minister said: "Andhra Pradesh is the only state to give wide market preference to MSMEs in all government procurements. The government extended a restart package to MSMEs to overcome the financial crisis that kicked off during the Covid-19 crisis. Under the YSR Navodayam scheme, Rs 7,976 crore worth of restructured loans have been provided to 1.78 lakh MSME accounts."