Amaravati, Jan 6 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday called for developing island tourism in the state on the lines of the Maldives.

The Chief Minister directed the officials to promote tourism in a big way and prepare a master plan for beach tourism.

Addressing the Pradesh State Investment Board meeting, the Chief Minister said that the Suryalanka beach should be developed over a stretch of 15 kilometres.

He told officials that the Suryalanka beachfront should be a pollution-free area. Along with Suryalanka, the small islands near Sullurpeta can also be developed under beach tourism.

“We should develop island tourism on the lines of the Maldives. If we can build 25,000 rooms, we can attract tourists,” he said.

Naidu wanted officials to focus on developing the Papikondalu-Polavaram region for tourism. Konaseema, Pulicat, and Visakhapatnam clusters will become excellent tourism clusters. There is also potential for tourism from Anantapur to Gandikota.

He said plans should be prepared to ensure that the Tourism Corporation generates an income of Rs 1,000 crore in the next 15 years.

The Andhra Pradesh State Investment Board meeting on Tuesday approved 14 projects involving investments to the tune of Rs 19,391 crore.

The meeting cleared the projects in the industries, tourism, food processing, and energy sectors, which are likely to create employment opportunities for 11,753 youth.

With this, the SIPB has so far approved investments worth Rs. 8,74,705 crore, which is expected to create employment opportunities for 8,35,675 people.

The Chief Minister praised the teamwork of officials in attracting huge investments during 2025 and advised them to work with the same team spirit during 2026 also.

He said the state’s brand image, which was lost during the previous government’s rule, has been restored, and large-scale investments have poured in.

He noted that Prominent companies like Google, Tata, Jindal, Birla, Adani, Reliance, TCS, and Cognizant are investing in Andhra Pradesh.

Ministers and officials must take responsibility to ensure that there is no room for even the slightest mistake, the Chief Minister said.

Referring to achievements in the power sector, the Chief Minister said that the state government decided to bear Rs 4500 crore true-up charges without passing on the burden to consumers and on the other hand, reduced power tariff by 13 paise per unit.

He said a target was set to purchase power at Rs 3.70 per unit by 2029. Several companies, including data centres, are coming forward to invest in Andhra Pradesh because of the progress in the power sector. He asked officials to adopt the speed of delivering governance.

–IANS

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