Nirmala Sitharaman, CM Chandrababu Naidu lay foundation stone for 15 PSBs & insurance companies in Amaravati

Hyderabad: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman along with Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday laid the foundation stone for public sector banks and insurance companies in Amaravati. Also the Capital region development authority and Indian Institute of AstroPhysics signed a MoU for developing a planetarium on international standards in Amaravati for which the state government allotted five acres of land.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said the Amaravati reconstruction works were launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the central government allotted Rs 15,000 crore for Amaravati development works. He said Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman laid the foundation for 15 public sector banks and insurance companies which are going to be developed at a cost of Rs 1,334 crore. With this a financial city will be developed first of its kind in Amaravati providing employment opportunities to 6570 people.

The Chief Minister appealed to the Union Finance Minister for extension of exemption on capital gains for Amaravati region farmers as they failed to utilize the opportunity so far. He said that the central government has been extending support to Polavaram project and Visakha steel plant. He said that the state government initiated several measures to excel in quantum computing, Artificial intelligence, agritech, infrastructure development and Amaravati will be developed as a green field city. He said Amaravati will be developed as a world class capital to make India proud. He appealed to bankers to develop a bankers tower in quantum valley to provide financial services from Amaravati.

Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman pinning hopes on development of Amaravati as robust capital, stressed the need for protecting the interests of capital region farmers who gave lands for development of Amaravati capital, appealed bankers to think afresh and extend financial assistance to farmers on top priority. She said that as Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu determined to develop the Rayalaseema region as horticulture hub, bankers should come forward to extend financial assistance for developing necessary infrastructure including cold storages, connectivity, packaging and export of fruits and vegetables from the region to rest of the country and abroad.

She said the Prime Minister is keen on developing horticulture and as a result banana and coconut trains are being operated from Maharashtra and other states to New Delhi to provide marketing facilities for horticulture products. He said the Prime Minister who is ensuring food security is now insisting on nutrition security and promoting the horticulture sector.

The Union Finance Minister, praising the efforts of the state government in developing the Quantum hub and artificial intelligence, appealed to the Chief Minister to give priority to basic science subjects as Andhra is known for toppers and experts in science subjects. She praised the chief Minister for coming forward to allot land for Indian Institute of AstroPhysics to set up a world class planetarium in Amaravati and added that the planetarium will help the young minds to talk about astro physics as they can witness the planets in real time from the centre.