Andhra Pradesh eyes Rs 500 crore investments into financial space

The state, which began tapping the fintech opportunity after carving out Telangana from it in June 2014 losing the IT powerhouse of Hyderabad, has already received over Rs 150 crore in the fintech sector, Naidu said.

Andhra Pradesh is targeting Rs 500 crore investments into the financial space which it sees as a sunrise sector for growth after IT, chief minister Chandrababu Naidu said Tuesday. The state, which began tapping the fintech opportunity after carving out Telangana from it in June 2014 losing the IT powerhouse of Hyderabad, has already received over Rs 150 crore in the fintech sector, Naidu said. "By next year, we will have Rs 500 crore of investments from 75 companies, creating 50,000 jobs," Naidu told reporters on the sidelines of the "Vizag Fintech Festival" here.

The minister said six big companies and 17 startups have already set up base in the 'Fintech Valley' here over the past two years. His efforts of turning Hyderabad into an IT powerhouse two decades ago as the chief minister of the undivided state found repeated mention during his speech and hinted that every effort is on to replicate the same with fintech now. Naidu said eventually he wants this coastal city to be one of the top four fintech innovation hubs globally, along with the likes of London, New York and Singapore.

The chief minister also said the state is looking at creating a "silicon corridor" in the Tirupati-Chennai-Nellore belt to serve the telephone handset manufacturers, electronics and hardware industry. He said the belt possesses strong advantages including crisscrossing of multiple national highways, railway lines, airports and seaports.

The state, which is already ranked first in the ease of doing business, is looking to massively extend its lead on the aspect, Naidu said. He said agriculture is also important, but it doesn't deliver revenues for the state the way the service sector does. Hence, like all developed nations investing in the knowledge economy, Andhra also wants to make a shift, he said. The state announced tie-ups with various entities including HDFC Bank and Federal Bank on the fintech front. Naidu said Reliance Industries is also planning to come to the state but did not elaborate.