The JSW Group on Wednesday signed an MoU with the Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board (AP EDB) on the sidelines of the annual conclave of the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos in Switzerland for the establishment of a jetty at Ramayapatnam in Prakasam district as part of the group’s plans to expand its logistics footprint in south Asia.
Jindal Group chairman Sajjan Jindal and EDB CEO J. Krishna Kishore signed the MoU in the presence of Minister for Information Technology, Electronics and Communication and Panchayat Raj N. Lokesh.
A.P. Industrial Infrastructure Corporation MD Babu A., Principal Secretary (energy and infrastructure and investment) Ajay Jain and EDB representatives were present. The MoU is for setting up the jetty with an investment of ₹1,000 crore and build a slurry pipeline for the group’s plant at Bellary in Karnataka. This pipeline is meant to develop synergies and linkages to Prakasam district. Mr. Lokesh invited the Jindal Group to establish an integrated steel complex in Prakasam district and invest in electric mobility in the State.
Digital technologies
Addressing a session on ‘Digital governance’ at the WEF meeting, Mr. Lokesh said digital technologies brought about a revolution in rendering citizen services and implementing welfare schemes, which was evident from the good results achieved by the State government. “A.P., for instance, has adopted e-Cabinet and rolled out Real-Time Governance to great effect,” he said.
In a separate workshop on the theme ‘Technologies for tomorrow’, Mr. Lokesh said A.P. achieved commendable growth in spite of the disadvantageous position from where it started off as the ‘residuary State’ post bifurcation, by adopting latest technologies. Later, Mr. Lokesh held confabulations with Marsh & McLennan Companies chairman Alex Moczarski, Pegasystems CEO Alan Trefler and Nestle CEO Chris Johnson on the investment opportunities available in A.P.