Vizag spruced up to host CII Partnership Summit, 410 MoUs worth ₹9.8 lakh crore to be signed

Visakhapatnam fondly called City of Destiny and Vizag with a population of 2.5 million is being decked up to host 30th CII Partnership Summit on November 14 and 15 with the Andhra Pradesh Government making a strong pitch to attract investments in various sectors from all over the world.

The official machinery under the leadership of IT, Electronics and HRD Minister Nara Lokesh, who heads the Group of Ministers on arrangements for the summit, is fully geared up for the high-profile event, which is being held after a gap of almost seven years. The State Government is receiving wholehearted support from the Government of India. Overwhelming response is being witnessed from the investors' community after roadshows were held pan India and in London, Dubai, Tokyo, Paris, Singapore and other overseas cities to showcase the investment opportunities in Andhra Pradesh. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu also made a few presentations on the opportunities and the State's emphasis on speed of doing business instead of ease of doing business with real-time governance on continuous monitoring.

Massive window dressing is being done to give a memorable experience to the delegates. Special care is being taken to serve authentic Andhra cuisine along with multiple options for the VVIP delegates. Araku Coffee, Kondapalli Toys and other mementos are being arranged for distribution to the participants.

During a curtain-raiser event, Lokesh said they are confident of signing 410 MoUs worth ₹9.8 lakh crore at the summit. He said the summit is a 3-way partnership of people, government and industry. Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal, Ashwini Vaishnaw, among others, will attend in addition to several delegations from 45 countries. All star hotels and guest houses are booked to accommodate the delegates. The tagline “Companies that choose speed, choose Andhra Pradesh," has been given wide coverage on the social media and the X handles of several functionaries including the Ministers.

The investments proposed are expected to create jobs for 7.5 lakh people making the government's promise to generate 20 lakh jobs possible in five years. A senior official told Bizz Buzz that in the past 17 months they had received investments worth $120 billion. The recent MoU signed with Google in association with Airtel and Adani Group to set up an AI Data Center in three locations in Visakhapatnam with an investment of $15 billion, the allotment of land to Cognizant Technology Services and Tata Consultancy Services in Visakhapatnam to establish development centres and the talks being held with Accenture and other leading IT players has boosted the investors' confidence. "Many are evincing interest to invest as Andhra Pradesh is being considered as a hot destination for speed of doing business," remarked Lokesh.

During the summit, the government is making.arrangements to lay the foundation stones for projects worth ₹2.7 lakh crore to generate 2.5 lakh jobs, reinforcing decentralized development. The government has already announced its decision to lay the foundation stone for ArcelorMittal-Nippon Steel (India)'s mega greenfield steel plant near Nakkapalli in Anakapalle district, around 80 km from here coinciding with the summit. The stone for the international convention centre and a five star deluxe hotel by Abu Dhabi-based LuLu Group may also be included in the itinerary for laying foundation stones.

The two-day summit will see participation by 300 overseas delegates from 45 countries, including G20 members and 72 international speakers. Among others, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, Union Aviation Minister Ram Naidu, Union Railways/I&B/Electronics Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union WCD Minister Annapurna Devi and Minister of State (Independent Charge) Dr. Jitendra Singh, will attend.

Besides ArcelorMittal-Nippon Steel (India)'s ₹1.5 lak crore steel plant and Google's ₹15 billion investment to build a data and AI hub in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh since the formation of the TDP-led NDA Government has attracted BPCL Refinery with an investment of ₹1 lakh crore, NTPC Green Energy's Green Hydrogen Hub worth ₹1.65 lakh crore. Five of India’s top ten solar manufacturers have chosen Andhra Pradesh for scaling. The State Government is investing around ₹5,000 crore to develop greenfield ports at Mulapeta, Ramayapatnam, Machilipatnam and Kakinada (Gateway.Port) and make them operational in 2026.