91 Major Companies Ready to Enter the State: Minister Nara Lokesh

In a move to boost industrial development in Andhra Pradesh, the state government has intensified efforts to support new enterprises. Minister for Information Technology and Electronics, Nara Lokesh, directed officials to extend prompt approvals and comprehensive assistance to companies proposing to establish industries in the state. He revealed that around 91 major companies are prepared to invest ₹91,839 crore and generate 1,41,407 jobs in the state.

During a review meeting held at his residence in Undavalli with senior officials from the IT, Electronics, and Real Time Governance Society (RTGS) departments, Nara Lokesh instructed that a nodal officer be appointed for every company expressing interest in setting up units in Andhra Pradesh. He explained that this measure would expedite the approval process and enable companies to begin operations swiftly. He reiterated the government’s target of creating five lakh jobs in the IT and Electronics sectors over the next five years.

Nara Lokesh also emphasized the need for comprehensive planning to transform Visakhapatnam into a modern IT hub. He instructed officials to immediately release the pending incentive payments due to IT companies and to accelerate work on the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub.

In a push to make public services more accessible, the minister ordered that the number of services offered through the 'Mana Mitra' app be increased from 317 to 400 by the end of the month. He advised that certificates be enhanced with blockchain and QR code technologies, and arrangements be made to deliver tax arrears information via WhatsApp. He also directed that data points and key performance indicators (KPIs) be integrated into RTGS to enable real-time access to information on central and state government schemes.

The minister called for strengthening systems to provide timely weather information and for making extensive arrangements for the national e-Governance conference scheduled to be held in Visakhapatnam on June 9 and 10.

He further suggested that information from various government departments be unified and presented on a single website integrated with Artificial Intelligence (AI), to streamline the Ease of Doing Business. He emphasized the need to consolidate all government orders and applications onto a single platform accessible to the public.

The meeting was attended by IT Secretary Katamneni Bhaskar, Special Secretary B. Sundar, and EDB CEO Saikanth Varma, among others.