Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has directed officials to take steps to credit industrial incentives into escrow accounts from December this year, with the aim of ensuring timely disbursement of incentives to industries.

Chairing the 20th meeting of the State Investment Promotion Board (SIPB) at the Secretariat on Wednesday (August 12, 2026), Mr. Naidu said escrow accounts should be linked to industrial incentives. While incentives were essential to attract and promote industries, the government should also focus on the extent of incentives it could sustainably provide, he said.

The SIPB approved investment proposals for 25 projects involving a total investment of ₹2,08,406 crore in the industries, energy, IT and electronics, and food-processing sectors. The projects are expected to generate direct employment for 21,627 people.

With the latest approvals, the 20 SIPB meetings held so far have cleared 363 proposals involving investments of ₹13.78 lakh crore, and the projects are expected to create employment for 10.86 lakh people.

The Chief Minister asked officials to focus on emerging sectors such as green ammonia, lithium batteries and robotics, and undertake studies on measures needed to attract and promote investments in these areas.

He said industrial projects should be planned in a manner that would promote the development of rural areas. The government should also create awareness among people about industrial projects being set up across the State and counter misinformation about them, he said.

Referring to data centres being set up in north Andhra, Mr. Naidu said all the data centres coming up in the region would require only 3.5 tmc ft of water, and called for steps to dispel misconceptions regarding their water consumption.

He also asked officials to continuously monitor industrial development in the State and examine the value being added to the State’s economy by incoming industries.

The Chief Minister said water would be supplied to industries in Visakhapatnam through the Polavaram Left Canal by gravity. He also asked officials to ensure that hotels being constructed in the State were distinctive in design and capable of attracting tourists.

175 MSME parks by September

Mr. Naidu said all defence-sector projects being set up in Andhra Pradesh were a matter of pride for the nation. He asked officials to facilitate defence projects near Puttaparthi and aerospace projects near Hindupur.

He said construction of the Mulapeta port should be completed by December so that it could be inaugurated that month.

He called for the integration of logistics, modern warehousing and cold-chain projects, and said road, rail and port connectivity was needed to enable horticultural produce from Rayalaseema to reach international markets.

The Chief Minister asked officials to speed up projects covered by investment agreements signed since last year as well as those approved by the SIPB.

He said the remaining 37 MSME parks should be completed by September this year, enabling industrial estates to be made available in all 175 Assembly constituencies. He also asked officials to take up the ‘One Family, One Entrepreneur’ programme on a large scale.

The Chief Minister said the government should ensure that the approved investments translated into projects on the ground at the earliest and contributed to employment generation and balanced regional development.

Published - August 12, 2026 05:07 pm IST