Jagan offers farmers Rs 30K annuity to lease their lands for green energy

NANDYAL: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy on Wednesday asserted that the State Government's aggressive policies were setting the road for swift industrial expansion. He noted that the State's consistently high rankings in the Ease of Doing Business were a reflection of the favourable environment and transparent regulations.

While addressing a huge gathering after commissioning the Rs 2,500 crore Ramco Cements at Kalwatala in Nandyal district, the Chief Minister congratulated the Ramco group for coming to Andhra Pradesh and starting the unit in a record time, saying that his Government would provide all assistance in further expanding the unit.

"The Chief Minister is only a phone call away and the government will assist you in the best way possible. The Ramco unit could become operational in 30 months, owing to the cooperation and support extended by our government," he said, adding that the clinker and grinding capacity would increase production to three million tonnes. The arrival of the unit marks the beginning of a new chapter despite the region's significant limestone reserves.

The Chief Minister emphasised the need of promoting green energy and promised to pay farmers an annuity of Rs 30,000 per acre and enter into an arrangement with them, if they came forward to give their lands. The government will increase the lease value by 5 percent every three years, he proposed.

"The land will be utilized for setting up of renewable energy like solar and wind and the local MLAs and others can work on it. It will be better if a cluster of 1,500 to 2,000 acres is formed in the region for generating 500 MW power. Recently, we have laid the foundation stone in this region at Kurnool for 5400 MW renewable energy projects of solar, wind and pump storage projects of Greenko group which will provide 2,600 jobs," The Chief Minister said.

"We have also approved investments of Rs 72,188 crore from the Indosol, Arcelor Mittal, Aurobindo and Adani firms, which will result in the creation of 20,000 jobs for residents due to the existing 75 percent local hiring preference. We have been able to achieve the highest ranking in the country for the past three years in EoDB and the format asks for feedback from the industries for the grading, which demonstrates how favourable the environment is for industrialization in addition to achieving an 11.34 percent growth rate in 2021–2022," Jagan stated.

"We recently started an RS 1,000 crore unit of Grasim Industries, which created 1,150 jobs and the Apache Group invested Rs 700 crore in Chittoor and Pulivendula, creating 10,000 jobs. Investments have also come in through TCL Panels worth Rs 1,700 crore providing jobs to 3,100 and ATC Tires in Vizag, Rs 2,200 crore investment and 2,000 jobs.

"We have also established four ports and nine fishing harbours, which will assist in doubling exports from Rs 1.70 lakh crores to Rs 3.4 lakh crores in five years. Three industrial corridors, a mega industrial hub and an EMC in Kopparthi and another in Chittoor will be built, he said, adding that the youth would be employed.

Deputy Chief Minister Amzad Basha, Ministers Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, Buggana Rajendranath Reddy and Gudivada Amarnath, MPs, MLAs, officials and others attended the event.