By IANS,
Hyderabad: A campus of the Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI) will come up in Andhra Pradesh, a senior state minister said here Thursday.
The central government has sanctioned the FDDI campus for the state and will provide Rs.100 crore for the purpose, announced Major Industries Minister J. Geeta Reddy at the annual day celebrations of American Chamber of Commerce Hyderabad Chapter (AMCHAM) here Thursday night.
Headquartered in Noida, FDDI already has campuses in Chennai, Kolkata, Rohtak, Chhindwara and Jodhpur. It was set up the ministry of commerce in 1986 to provide human resource and technical services to the industry.
The minister said the state government was encouraging the manufacturing sector as it offers employment opportunities to a large number of people.
She appealed to AMCHAM and the US consulate in Hyderabad to help in getting investments into proposed Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR) in coastal Andhra.
Pointing out that the state has the second largest coastline in the country, she said it was sanctioned first PCPIR in country. The project will come up in 650 square km between Visakhapatnam and Kakinada.
“We are looking for lot of investors. Because of meltdown it has not taken off but it will take off. Investors have come but things are going slow. I need help of AMCHAM and also the consulate. Please propagate this and get us investors,” Geeta Reddy said.
Claiming that the state is making rapid strides, she urged the investors not to believe rumours and the media reports that industry is moving away from the state or not coming to the state.
She told the gathering that Andhra Pradesh stands fifth in exports in India with 31.5 percent growth every for last seven years.
“We are exporting $29 million worth of mango pulp to various countries. We are also exporting tomato pulp to countries like China, US, Mexico and Korea.”
The state is also third after Gujarat and Maharashtra in attracting investments, she said.
She assured the industry that the state would overcome energy constraints by the end of 2013 and hoped that it would become energy surplus in two years.