Foundation for ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel plant this month: CM

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday (March 4) that the foundation for the ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel plant in Anakapalli would be laid this month and for the Google Data Centre in Visakhapatnam in April.

Apart from this, the Tata Group was investing ₹6,000 crore in the State. The coalition government could attract these and other marquee investments by carefully resurrecting the State’s brand image, which was destroyed by the previous YSRCP government. Thanks to the efforts of the TDP-led government, Andhra Pradesh would become a $2.40 trillion economy by 2047, he asserted.

Making a statement during a discussion on demands for grants to various departments in the Assembly, Mr. Chandrababu Naidu said the government was giving fast clearances by introducing 26 sectoral policies, with focus on developing industrial parks in each of the 175 Assembly constituencies, and that the industry status gave a big boost to the tourism sector, the potential of which was largely untapped.

He said the government so far provided jobs to 6.28 lakh individuals, including 30,500 through the mega DSC and police recruitments, and claimed that the Amaravati, Visakhapatnam and Tirupati economic regions would propel the economy to a higher growth trajectory. The shift from Ease of Doing Business to Speed of Doing Business gave A.P. the edge over other States in attracting investments in diverse sectors, he observed. 

Further, the CM said public health and Brand AP were the government’s top priorities and that steps were taken for the introduction of a Universal Health Policy, under which every citizen would be eligible for free medical services up to ₹2.50 lakh. The government was getting medical colleges constructed in the Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), he said, while insisting that they would be government assets. 

The liquor scam could be worth as high as ₹10,000 crore, given the evidence being unearthed by the SIT, he said, informing the House that the government had constituted a Cabinet Sub-Committee and initiated a comprehensive overhaul of the excise system, while saying that around 30,000 people died allegedly due to consumption of low quality liquor in 2019-24. 

Kakinada blast

The CM warned those in illegal firecracker businesses of serious consequences for endangering the lives of hapless workers and said that apart from taking criminal action, the government would go to the extent of seizing and auctioning the properties of those manufacturing crackers in flagrant violation of norms. The proceeds would be given as compensation to the victims.

Referring to the major blast at Vetlapalem in Kakinada district recently, which killed 26 people so far, Mr. Chandrababu Naidu said the Suryasri Fireworks unit was given licence in 2022, and it employed more than the permitted number of workers and stored huge quantities of the explosives.

The government would take care of the education of the children in the families of the deceased. Besides, houses would be built for such families.