Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy urged the Prime Minister Narendra Modi the need of Special Category Status for state for rapid development in the State on Saturday in the virtual conference with PM in Niti Aayog meeting.

Participating in the sixth Governing Council meeting of Niti Aayog chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister said that bifurcation resulted in the State being deprived of a Tier-1 city, infrastructure, employment opportunities and financial resources. He reiterated that rapid industrialization of the State is possible only if Special Category Status is accorded to the State. He urged the Centre to expedite the approval of revised cost estimates of the Polavaram Irrigation Project for timely completion of the project.

Jagan said that Rapid industrialization of my State is possible only if Special Category Status is accorded. This was a commitment made on the floor of Parliament and was a precondition to bifurcation. For India to become a formidable force in manufacturing, we must conduct a thorough study and analyse the factors that have contributed to the success of countries that have demonstrated good progress in manufacturing sector.

Jagan said to PM that in my opinion, the five significant impediments to the manufacturing sector growth are exorbitant cost of funds available from our financial institutions, high cost of power, delays associated with land procurement, delay and complexity in grant of statutory clearances, and rigid labour laws. With respect to each of these hurdles, the State Governments and the Centre must take a deeper drive to understand the root cause and make a conscious effort to introduce reforms to mitigate these hurdles.

He also said for building infrastructure, even the State Government undertakings avail loans from financial institutions like PFC and REC at a higher rate of interest of 10 to 11% per annum. If this is the difficulty faced by PSUs, one can imagine the plight of the private sector. The CM YS Jagan asserted that despite his Government’s commitment to provide a business-friendly environment, industrialization is yet to gain required growth momentum in the State.