Revealing that the State government has evolved an action plan to turn one lakh women into entrepreneurs by March 8, 2026, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday sought the support of bankers to realise the target.
Chairing the 232rd State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) meeting at the Secretariat, Naidu said he promoted the ‘One Family – One Software Engineer’ concept in the past, and now laid emphasis on ‘One Family – One Entrepreneur’ giving priority to women’s empowerment.
DWCRA women have achieved economic growth by availing bank loans, and now banks should come forward to extend loans to women entrepreneurs as the State government has decided to develop MSME parks in all 175 Assembly constituencies.
Banks must upgrade policies to suit needs of Gen X: Naidu
The bankers should also encourage youth and women by extending financial assistance to startups with lower interest rate by interlinking with Ratan Tata Innovation Hub, which was inaugurated in Mangalagiri and five other centres in the State recently, he said.
Naidu opined that banks should upgrade their policies to suit the next generation needs as India is going to throw a challenge to China and the US by introducing next generation economic reforms. The Centre is also bringing reforms in GST to suit the present needs. The bankers should become partners of the P4 programme launched by the State government to bridge the gap between rich and poor, he said.
Stressing the need for result oriented bankers meetings, he cited the delay in sanction of Kharif loans for farmers. Half of the Kharif season completed, and the banks should have given loans to farmers by this time as there is no use in sanctioning loans at the end of crop season, he opined.
The Chief Minister appealed to the bankers to extend cooperation through funding for the infrastructure and irrigation projects. The government is planning to develop Andhra Pradesh as a logistics hub to reduce the logistics cost from the present 14% to single digit. Several projects, including development of ports have been taken up at a cost of Rs 3 lakh crore under PPP mode, he explained.
The Chief Minister urged the bankers to set up a financial district in Capital Amaravati. The government is ready to allot land, and banks should come forward to set up their offices in Amaravati, he said.
Secretary (Union Ministry of Finance) Nagaraju said bankers in AP performed well compared to other States. Andhra Bank founder Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramaiah Memorial Park will be developed in Machilipatnam, he said. As part of the annual credit plan, the banks have extended Rs 2,47,919 crore loans to all sectors, including Rs 94,666 crore for agriculture, Rs 49,831 crore for MSMEs, and Rs 1,00,278 crore for other sectors.