Andhra Pradesh Emerges as India's Strategic Growth Hub at CII Partnership Summit 2025

Business leaders, at the CII Partnership Summit 2025 in Vizag, hailed Andhra Pradesh as a crucial growth engine for India, highlighting strides in finance, skills, and healthcare. Key figures outlined ambitious plans, reinforcing the state's role in trade, technology, and innovation. Healthcare and education advancements were also spotlighted.

Andhra Pradesh has been spotlighted as the central focus of India's next growth wave, as prominent business leaders articulated ambitious plans at the CII Partnership Summit 2025, held in Vizag. Sanjiv Bajaj, CMD of Bajaj Finserv, lauded the state as a significant strategic engine of growth for the nation, crediting its coastline, infrastructure, and governance as pivotal gateways for trade, technology, and innovation. Bajaj emphasized the importance of a modern and inclusive financial system, revealing Bajaj Finserv's commitment to empower every citizen in Andhra Pradesh.

Bajaj shared the company's target to reach over 30 lakh individuals and small businesses in Andhra Pradesh, planning to disburse more than Rs15,000 crore this year. He also highlighted the role of the Rahul Bajaj Centre of Excellence in Skilling, which has established centers in various cities, including Amravati, Vijayawada, Vishakhapatnam, and Tirupati, with expansion plans underway.

In the healthcare arena, Shobana Kamineni, Promoter of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, declared Andhra Pradesh a 'land of opportunity' now leading in sectors like renewable energy, IT, manufacturing, and healthcare. She detailed Apollo's efforts in enhancing health indicators and rural technology outreach, mentioning the establishment of a healthcare ecosystem across major cities. Kamineni further unveiled plans to establish a center for digital health precision medicine in partnership with the University of Leicester.

Setting a broader context, Suchitra Ella, Joint Managing Director of Bharat Biotech and Vice President of CII, alluded to global shifts in trade amid rising protectionism. She pointed to India's progress in self-reliant growth driven by manufacturing and renewable energy, celebrating the 209-gigawatt milestone achieved by January 2025, en route to the 2030 target.

(With inputs from agencies.)