Amaravati, Feb 27 (TNT): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Friday said the State government has set a target to complete ten lakh house-warming ceremonies by the end of this year as part of its housing programme for the poor.
Replying to the discussion on the Housing and Agriculture Budgets in the Assembly, Naidu said nearly three lakh houses have already been completed and house-warming ceremonies conducted.
He added that another three lakh houses would be completed by Ugadi.
Naidu said 2.20 lakh families in the State do not own house sites and the government is taking steps to distribute free house sites — two cents in urban areas and three cents in rural areas — to all eligible beneficiaries.
Targets have been fixed to complete 2.26 lakh houses by June and 2.10 lakh houses by September, he said.
On agriculture, the Chief Minister said the sector would be strengthened through Agritech interventions and a five-point strategy focusing on water security, demand-driven crops, food processing, marketing and government support.
He said Andhra Pradesh contributes about 10 per cent to the national gross agricultural output. For 2025–26, ₹13,722 crore has been allocated towards free electricity for farmers. The State has 22.5 lakh agricultural pump sets and 69,000 new connections would be added this year.
Highlighting procurement reforms, Naidu said the government is making paddy procurement payments within 24 hours and has directly transferred ₹10,816 crore to farmers.
He added that ₹1,670 crore in pending dues left by the previous government have been cleared.
The Chief Minister said the State has attracted ₹14,230 crore in food processing investments. About 15 lakh farmers across 8,168 villages are practising natural farming, with a target to expand coverage to 50 lakh acres.
He said Rayalaseema would be developed as a horticulture hub under a ₹30,000-crore cluster plan.
Horticulture production, currently at 400 million metric tonnes, is targeted to increase to 1,000 million metric tonnes, he said.
The government is supplying power to the aqua sector at ₹1.50 per unit and plans to develop Andhra Pradesh into an aquaculture hub. A Cocoa City will be established in Eluru, he said.
Naidu said improved groundwater levels have led to electricity savings of ₹95 crore, while horticulture expansion over 20,000 hectares has contributed ₹1,634 crore to the State’s GSDP growth.
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