Vijayawada: In a bid to foster a more investor-friendly ecosystem, the Andhra Pradesh govt has decided to extend the lease or sale terms for industries that received land from the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) but have yet to commence operations. These lands were originally allotted on a partial sale or lease basis with specific deadlines for launching commercial activities.After returning to power, chief minister Chandrababu Naidu directed the industries department to explore reclaiming land from non-starter firms to make way for new investments. With land allocation becoming increasingly challenging, the govt asked APIIC to review cases of unutilized land despite multiple deadline extensions. The corporation was also instructed to issue a final notice before initiating reclamation.In response, several industrial houses approached the govt seeking more time to execute their projects. They cited delays caused by the previous administration’s failure to provide adequate infrastructure, incentives, and dedicated power supply lines. They assured the govt that they would meet new deadlines if their agreements were extended.The state then formed a high-level committee of senior officials to evaluate these requests on a case-by-case basis. After consultations with industry leaders, the committee submitted a detailed report to the govt.The matter was reviewed by the State Investment Promotion Council (SIPC), chaired by chief secretary Vijayanand and forwarded to the State Investment Promotion Board (SIPB), led by the chief minister. The SIPB approved the extension of lease terms for several firms, with the condition that project execution must be completed without fail.“We have decided to give one more opportunity to them as the chief minister Chandrababu Naidu do not want go harsh with any investor. We will extend fullest support to them to ensure that we realise the investment on field,” said industries minister TG Bharath. He said that reclaiming the land from the proposed investors is not a big task but getting industry is. He, however, said that the govt would definitely take the land back from those who did not respond to the notices and submit the updated DPRs to execute the projects.
