Any state that attracts large-scale industries and works for the development of the state and creation of employment opportunities must certainly be welcomed. That is exactly what governments are supposed to do. The Andhra Pradesh government recently conducted a large partnership summit in Vizag and signed agreements with several companies. Through this investment summit, the state government officially announced that it had signed agreements with 613 companies across twelve key sectors, securing investments worth ₹13.25 lakh crore. Though these numbers look good, considering previous partnership summits, the agreements made, and the way those projects were implemented, it is natural for many doubts to arise. However, in these agreements, several investment proposals that came after the coalition government came to power in Andhra Pradesh were also added. Even if we set aside that issue, the most crucial point is how many of the ₹13.25 lakh crore in new investments, as claimed by the government, will actually get grounded and how many will be completed.
Officials say that unless at least half of these projects are completed and their results become visible to the people before Chandrababu’s current term ends, there is a possibility that this could cause more harm than benefit. Because on one side, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, and on the other side, Minister Nara Lokesh are widely promoting that it is because of them and their brand that such massive investments have come into the state. Even though several ministers toured foreign countries for the partnership summit, when it comes to taking credit, only Chandrababu and Nara Lokesh are claiming it. The most important question here is: apart from the land being given by the government, how many lakh crores worth of financial incentives are being given to these companies? Will the government reveal all those details? The shocking part is that for some companies, the government is allocating as much as 65 to 70 percent of the total investment as incentives and subsidies. In some cases, the profit that private companies will gain will be much greater than the benefit the state will receive by bringing those units to Andhra Pradesh.
The Modi government at the Centre is currently dependent on TDP’s support. Using this as an advantage, if any central government institutions are brought in, the state would benefit. But even the highly publicized BPCL refinery is not of great use to the state. Because if the company is investing ₹96,862 crore, the government itself is paying 75 percent — meaning ₹72,646 crore — to the company in various incentives and subsidies. Not just that, the incentives being given to ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India near Anakapalli in Vizag are also nearly on the same model. Under the name of tailor-made conditions, different kinds of incentives are being given to different companies. A senior IAS officer opined that both Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Minister Nara Lokesh are taking decisions that mostly favor corporate companies rather than thinking from the perspective of the state.
He said that under the guise of providing employment opportunities, influential people in the government and corporate companies are targeting the state’s resources. If the government truly had sincerity, it should explain how much benefit the state will receive from the arrival of these companies and how much benefit these companies will gain from the state. Only then will the public understand the facts. Until then, officials commented, these leaders will continue to play this dangerous game in the name of industries, investments, and employment opportunities. Under the name of IT development, the government is also allocating land worth hundreds of crores to some real estate companies at very cheap rates and trying to claim that all this progress is because of them.