The AP CM says it is to keep industry afloat.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy today said that the government was implementing various welfare programs by taking loans so as to ensure purchasing capacity for the people of the state, in order to prevent the collapse of the industrial sector.
He alleged that the opposition parties were carrying out a smear campaign on this issue against the state government with malignant intentions, and claimed that his government had in fact paid the arrears left over by the previous government, a fact being conveniently glossed over by the opposition.
He made these remarks after releasing Rs. 1,124 crore in incentives to the MSMEs, textile companies and spinning mills of the state.
Speaking on the occasion, the CM said that the government was giving a lot of importance to industry, and was making strenuous efforts to bring more industrial units to the state.
Saying that a total of 97,423 industrialists were running MSMEs in the state, he claimed that the incentives given by the state government to them had helped them a lot of sustain their operations during the last 27 months, and that most industrial units would end up on the roads if they were not given any incentives.
Although GDPs had fallen by 5% across the globe last year, the slump did not impact the state in his rule, showing the efficacy of the incentives, he claimed.
He added that the encouragement being given to the MSME sector would also strengthen the economic system of the state. MSMEs were providing jobs to scores of locals, with a total of 12 lakh people employed by the industrial units of the state, he said.
He also pointed out that he had also brought in legislation to provide 75% of the total jobs to he local people, which was resulting in the above employment figures.
He added that the government was transferring the monies of the welfare schemes directly to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries. Of the Rs. 1,124 being released, Rs. 450 crore would go directly into the accounts of the MSMEs, and the remaining Rs. 684 crore into the accounts of the textile companies and spinning mills, he said.