Hyderabad|India|November'2010: Chief Minister Dr K Rosaiah said that an all out drive has been launched to make Andhra Pradesh the choicest destination for global investors in manufacturing and aviation industry.

The Chief Minister reviewed the progress of the country’s first Aerospace and Precision engineering Special Economic Zone set up on a 500 acre site at Nadargul and Adibhatla villages in Ranga Reddy district with top officials and the Company Executives. Dr.Rosaiah said he was glad that the Tata Advanced Systems has set up a Helicopter Manufacturing facility in the Aerospace SEZ to manufacture cabins for the Sikorsky-92 helicopters on schedule and that the first cabin from the manufacturing line, would be exported to the Sikorsky's assembly unit in the US on November 23 with two more scheduled to be delivered by the year-end.

Mr Ratan Tata, Chairman of the Tata Group of Industries and leading industrialist is likely to meet the Chief Minister on November 7 at Hyderabad in this regard. He is likely to discuss about further investments the group planned in Andhra Pradesh with the Chief Minister.

In yet another major development, Mahindras offered to set up a major Aerospace Project envisaging an investment of around Rs. 300 crores. The Chief Minister expressed happiness over the proposal of automobile giant Mahindras.

Dr. Rosaiah said the unique achievement of the TASL speaks volumes of the availability of world-class infrastructure and environment in Andhra Pradesh particularly in Hyderabad making it a hub for promotion of aviation industry with focus on Maintenance, Repair and Overhauling (MRO) at the Aerospace SEZ developed by APIIC-led consortia with an investment of Rs. 250 crore. He said Andhra Pradesh was planning to overtake Gujarat and Maharastra in the investment and industrialization sector in the coming years. “Andhra Pradesh has laid down an ambitious road map for attracting global investments and technology partners at the Aerospace SEZ to emerge as the only destination for aviation industry not only in India but across Asia," he said.

The Chief Minister said Industry and Agriculture were two eyes of his government and hence there was no neglect of any sector and both are given equal prominence and being promoted vigorously. “Whatever be the developments in the coming days, I assure every investor and industrialist that the State Government was firmly behind them and is committed to support them with a secured and tension-free environment" he added. Dr.Rosiah said achieving the Number one Position in attracting investments and rapid Industrialization to overtake Gujarat & Maharashtra is one of the avowed goals of the Government.

Dr. Rosaiah said AP achieved several milestones in providing investor friendly environment for diversified manufacturing sector such as bulk drugs, textiles, cement, ship building, agro industries, auto ancillaries, footwear and steel. He said in its latest report the World Bank had rated Andhra Pradesh as the Best State in implementing reforms and also ranked Hyderabad as the "Most Business Friendly City" among the metros in India. ‘Andhra Pradesh has kept pace with the development creating a win-win situation for every investor’, said the Chief Minister. 'My ambition is to make Andhra Pradesh a forerunner in manufacturing and infrastructure sectors by providing an industry-friendly and pro-active climate for all investors to locate, grow and sustain their operations', said the Chief Minister.

Dr. Rosaiah said 12 minor ports are being expanded to handle cargo of 100 million tonne by 2012, Excellent roads of 1,88,570 kms length are ready including 4,648 kms of National Highways and 9212 kms of State Highways,. There are also vast water resources available with three major rivers (Krishna, Godavari and Pennar), 9 inter State rivers and 28 other minor rivers with a total surface availability of 2764 TMC of which 10 percent is earmarked for industrial use. He said availability of huge skilled manpower with 628 engineering colleges and 550 ITIs producing together in all 6 lakh technical persons every year was another asset for the State. Dr. Rosaiah said Andhra Pradesh achieved landmark success in IT and bulk drugs sectors with over Rs.36,000 crore software exports and employment generation of nearly 3.5 lakhs in the last few years and poised to repeat the performance in other sectors like aviation, textiles, automobiles and petro chemical sectors as well.

-Nov'2010