Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu addressing the MSME Growth Summit 2026 in Vijayawada on Monday.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Monday (May 25, 2026) unveiled a development blueprint aimed at transforming the State into a global hub for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), advanced manufacturing and grassroots entrepreneurship.
Addressing the MSME Growth Summit 2026 at the newly inaugurated Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Convention Centre, Mr. Naidu described small and medium businesses as the backbone of employment generation, second only to agriculture, and outlined a governance strategy to help small ideas grow into large-scale industrial operations.
The Chief Minister drew a direct link between investment inflows and rapid job creation. He said that over the last 23 months, Andhra Pradesh had secured investment commitments totalling ₹23 lakh crore, averaging ₹1 lakh crore per month. He said the focus had been on delivery rather than mere paperwork, and that these inflows translated into 23 lakh jobs over the same period, averaging one lakh jobs each month.
Mr. Naidu said the government’s operational policy followed a cycle of signing, grounding and opening projects, aligning the State’s industrial work with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s national “Chip to Ship” manufacturing initiative.
To support this MSME-led growth, the State is providing targeted fiscal incentives and building decentralised infrastructure to lower entry barriers for local capital, he said, adding that the government had released ₹500 crore in industrial incentives and launched a ₹200-crore cluster development programme.
On the infrastructure front, foundation stones have already been laid for nearly 100 industrial parks, including 38 parks inaugurated on Monday, as part of a policy goal of establishing at least one dedicated MSME industrial park in every Assembly constituency.
The strategy seeks to widen business ownership through the “One Family-One Entrepreneur” programme, aiming to spur industrial growth at the grassroots level. A key part of the empowerment plan relies on the State’s large DWCRA women’s self-help groups, which hold a corpus fund of ₹28,000 crore. The government has set a target to turn five lakh of these women into entrepreneurs within the year.
He further said the government would support the growing startup ecosystem and work towards a target of 100 unicorn startups.
While MSMEs are central to the policy, Mr. Naidu called for their integration into high-technology sectors like aerospace, defence and space industries.
Moving away from traditional industrial models, the government is backing a transition towards a circular economy. Under the slogan “Village to Global Market,” the policy says waste from one industry should become the raw material for another, building environmental sustainability into the State’s industrial framework. MSMEs have a role to play in the circular economy.
Backing youth aspirations
Mr. Naidu said the aspirations and thinking of different generations were changing fast, and the government was ready to help young people reach their goals. There were now distinct groups such as teenagers, Gen Alpha and Gen Z, each with its own ideas and ambitions, and the younger generations were leaning more towards innovation and entrepreneurship, he said.
Addressing the youth, he asked them to tell the government the skills they wanted to learn, the fields that interested them, their aspirations and how they wished to study, and said the government would stand by them and make use of their talent. The State aimed to encourage innovation, skill development and entrepreneurship among the young through MSME and industrial growth, he added.
Mr. Naidu said the government was rewriting its economic planning to move at “jet speed,” to keep State governance in step with the aspirations of the Gen Z and Gen Alpha generations.
Published – May 25, 2026 04:50 pm IST
