Amaravathi, March 5: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu has stated that the state government has created significant employment opportunities during the past 21 months. Speaking in the Assembly, he said that a total of 6.28 lakh people have secured jobs across both government and private sectors during this period.
According to the Chief Minister, the government remains committed to achieving its larger goal of generating 20 lakh jobs in the state. He explained that employment opportunities have been created through multiple sectors including industries, MSMEs, food processing and government recruitment drives.
Naidu said Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises have played a major role in job creation. Around 2.48 lakh people found employment through MSME related activities. Of these, nearly 1.46 lakh individuals secured jobs through skill development initiatives, while around 95,000 jobs were generated in industrial sectors and about 64,000 opportunities came from the food processing industry.
He also pointed out that government recruitment has contributed to employment generation. Around 30,500 government jobs were filled through teacher recruitment conducted by the District Selection Committee, police constable appointments and other administrative positions.
The Chief Minister highlighted that the state government is also focusing on strengthening the healthcare sector. He said the universal health policy introduced by the government will ensure free medical treatment up to Rs 2.5 lakh for citizens. The administration is also planning to establish a 100 bed hospital in every constituency.
Naidu criticised the previous YSRCP government, alleging that it failed to allocate land for medical colleges. He clarified that projects implemented under the public private partnership model will remain government owned and are not meant for privatisation.
Emphasising the importance of language in education, Naidu said primary education should be taught in the mother tongue. He argued that introducing English medium instruction at the early stage created confusion among students. The government, he said, will focus on nurturing skilled youth while protecting and promoting the Telugu language.
The Chief Minister also spoke about restoring investor confidence in the state. He claimed that Andhra Pradesh had lost its brand value between 2019 and 2024 and cited examples of companies such as Jockey, Amar Raja, Lulu and Franklin Templeton leaving the state during the previous regime.
Referring to an RBI report, Naidu said around 913 companies exited Andhra Pradesh during that period. He added that the state is now working to rebuild its reputation as a business friendly destination. According to him, Andhra Pradesh is moving from ease of doing business to speed of doing business.
During the recent investors summit, the state reportedly secured investment commitments worth more than Rs 13 lakh crore. These investments are expected to create employment opportunities for nearly 16 lakh people.
To drive economic growth, the government has divided the state into three major economic zones Visakhapatnam Amaravati and Tirupati. Naidu said Visakhapatnam will develop as a hub for information technology global capability centres and data centres while Amaravati is planned as a knowledge city with focus on advanced technologies including quantum computing.
He described the proposed 15 billion dollar data centre investment by Google in Visakhapatnam as one of the largest foreign direct investments in India. The Chief Minister added that other major companies including TCS and ArcelorMittal are also planning projects in the port city.
Naidu announced that the foundation stone for the ArcelorMittal project will be laid on March 23 and work on the Google investment is expected to begin in April. The government is also offering incentives such as escrow account facilities to attract more investments.
Along with large investments, the government is promoting entrepreneurship through the One Family One Entrepreneur initiative to encourage MSME growth. The Chief Minister said the state is also focusing on skill development through the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub and other programmes to strengthen human resources and support long term economic development.
