Exclusive: More Than Ease Of Doing Business, AP Industries Minister Says, 'Speed' Matters For Driving Growth

From Ease-To-Speed of doing business, the motto of Andhra Pradesh has scored the state some notable achievements in the past few years. While the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) index is a ranking system established by the World Bank Group, Andhra Pradesh's Industries & Commerce Minister TG Bharath believes more than anything else, it is the speed of doing business that matters most to any company in present time.

The rating or ranking of EoDB is driven by simpler and industry-friendly regulations & aptly protected property rights. Keeping focus on these parameters, the state of Andhra Pradesh has secured the top spot 4 out of 5 years during the present CM, Nara Chandrababu Naidu's previous term in power from 2014 to 2019.

A proven pioneer of EoDB and the man often credited for the development of Hyderabad into a global IT hub when he introduced the concept of Speed of Doing Business (SoDB) during a ceremony at Sri City, which turned many heads.

The state's Industries & Commerce Minister TG Bharath added more perspective during an exclusive conversation with Good Returns.

Speaking of the need to focus on the 'speed' of doing business, the minister said, "As announced by the CM, the era of focussing only on Ease of Doing Business is done. More than anything else, the speed of doing business is what matters to any industry at this point in time. Secondly, there is a lot of competition from neighbouring states and countries. That was not the case previously."

Andhra Pradesh is all set to relentlessly expedite the time taken for setting up businesses while promoting industry-friendly policies.

In Bharath's own words, "We intend to expedite the setting up of industries and industrial zones by focussing on cutting down on the time taken to execute processes. Goes without saying that we will continue to promote industry-friendly regulations and strengthen protections of property rights. There is a lot of untapped potential in the state that needs to be utilised to revive the state financially. The longest coastline is just one of the highlights."

He further said, that those investing in the state will no longer have to keep following up, the Hon'ble CM has instructed the entire workforce to support industries in every way possible and permissible. As was the case between 2019-2024, repeated visits to keep things moving, will no longer be necessary."

Emphasising on the need to 'rebuild' and 'revive', Bharath added, "We want to create and cement the state's position among the top 5 in the country for doing business. The progressiveness of the upcoming industry policy will be the first step towards achieving this. We are studying the policies of various top states, and clubbed with our vision, we will roll out a robust industrial policy that will be second to none. Scores of projects were called off due to the policies and attitude of the previous government."

Highlighting in detail, he said, "We have initiated conversations with entities which left the state due to the same, assured full support and believe that all of them will come back. Rebuilding Brand Andhra Pradesh is necessary and we intend to leave no stone unturned. As far as the project complies to all governing regulations and laws, irrespective of how big or small, which industry the project belongs to, we will support and promote it. This means, both, giants like the Tatas or Reliances and a micro investor who seeks to invest in the state will get the same amount of support. We have a visionary leading us and that brings in the trust factor."

Taking note of the state government's push for investments after a whitepaper underlining the financial turmoil that Andhra Pradesh is undergoing, Bharath said, "At this juncture, investments hold key & could decide the fate of the state."

As per the Government, the state's debt amounts to a little over a whopping 9.74 lakh crores. The SoDB mantra was floated by Chief Minister Chandra Babu Naidu during a roundtable conference with CEOs of various firms at Sri City, he mentioned.

Elaborating on his vision for the state, he lastly said, " We have topped the EoDB charts for years but it is now time to focus on 'Speed of Doing Business' to truly elevate our industrial landscape". This was followed by the IT Minister Nara Lokesh's post of social media platform X. His post read, " Our Government believes that the era of EODB is over. SODB is the new mantra and we will aim to move the fastest to create industrial zones for Foxconn and other large global manufacturing firms".