Leading business men from the state of West Bengal have come out lauding the state of Andhra Pradesh for attracting mega investments and promoting industrial growth in the state.

In an interactive meeting organized by the Indian chambers of Commerce (ICC) in Kolkata on Investment opportunities in Andhra Pradesh with the state’s IT, Electronics and HRD Minister Mr Nara Lokesh many of the top corporate honchos from Kolkata applauded AP for its clear vision and path of economic growth.

“AP has emerged as one of the most attractive destinations in India. The state armed with strong governance, modern infrastructure, excellent logistics & overall investor friendly policies has attracted many big-ticket investments over the past couple of years” said Mr Brij Bhushan Agarwal, chairman and managing director of Shyam Metalics.

He further pointed out to the state’s speed of doing business and the upcoming rare earth corridor and the potential Andhra holds in the steel and commodities sector.

“We work in multiple states but AP has emerged as the most valued/preferred investment destination” said Mr Brij Bhushan.

Similarly, Mr Parthiv Neotia, joint managing director of Ambuja Neotia hailed the IT Minister for his clarity of thought and his commitment to nation building.

“I have never interacted with a more dynamic minister. A man with clarity and commitment. He has a clear plan to achieve the USD 2.4 trillion economy for AP by 2047” opined Mr Neotia.

Concurred Mr Keshav Bhajanka, Executive Director of Centuryply and added “Anyone who does business in AP knows that speed matters. We have about 33% of our investments in AP. Now we have decided that 50% should be in AP”.

Taking to the stage to address the exclusive set of Kolkata’s business community Mr Lokesh underscored the various sectors of growth in the state and invited businessmen to participate in AP’s economic journey.

He mentioned the role of Andhra Pradesh as a key economic partner in the eastern coastal region and underscored the vast coastline, world-class ports, improving logistics, availability of land, electricity, and investor-friendly policies as positive aspects of AP.

Stating that their goal is to make Andhra Pradesh an industrial and manufacturing hub in India the minister spoke of the 3S i.e. Speed, Stability & Service.

He highlighted three big projects for having invested in AP i.e. Google, AMNS and the AMCA project are big investments in AP.

“It is paramount to create a conducive ecosystem for growth. What took Hyderabad 30 years to achieve will take the Visakhapatnam economic region (VER) 10 years” said Mr Lokesh.

In an earlier meeting AP’s Education minister also met with Visa Steel Vice Chairman & Managing Director Mr Vishal Agarwal, Emami Group Director Mr Aditya Agarwal, and Shree Cements Vice Chairman Mr Prashant Bangur in Kolkata.v