Investors favour states offering better incentives as Andhra Pradesh secures Rs 9.89 lakh crore in MoUs: N Chandrababu Naidu

Visakhapatam: Investors will go to the state that offers better incentives, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu said on Friday, as the state attracted investment commitments worth Rs 9.89 lakh crore through 303 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) at the two-day CII Partnership Summit in Visakhapatnam.

With Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh competing aggressively to attract investments from each other, Naidu sought to put the controversy to rest, saying all 28 states compete for investments.

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"Initially, we give more incentives and, once the entire ecosystem is built and settled, we reduce the incentives," he said. "I know how to attract investments. Investors will go to the state which gives better incentives."

Citing the example of Kia, he said: "In the last regime, they drove away even the automotive parts suppliers. It is not credibility of one day but built over several decades".

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He said states helped one another in times of need, describing it as a matter of "give and take". "You see, in South India, when the cyclone came, I called deputy chief minister of Telangana for help, and he sent officials from electricity department. Then I called Tamil Nadu CM, and he sent 500 persons. Then I called Karnataka chief minister, and, with all their help, within three days, I was able to bring everything to normalcy. It is a matter of give-and-take."

Andhra Pradesh signed 303 MoUs, with the projects expected to generate 348,000 jobs. Of these, 109 MoUs worth Rs 9.02 lakh crore were signed during the summit on November 12 and 13, with the potential to generate more than 200,000 jobs.

Another 194 MoUs worth Rs 86,522 crore were signed at regional investment conferences held between October 7 and 26. Naidu said cumulative investment commitments received by the state since June 2024 had crossed Rs 32.49 lakh crore.

Seeking to reassure investors about policy uncertainty arising from changes in governments, Naidu said the state will enact an Investments Protection Act with retrospective effect from 2024. The government will also move towards granting industrial clearances in real time through self-certification.

Pitching Visakhapatnam as an emerging technology and industrial hub, he said the city will develop into an IT, knowledge and rare earth minerals centre. He also highlighted the potential of emerging technologies, saying young entrepreneurs had proposed setting up data centres in space.