Fate of proposed Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Indian Institute of Packaging in State hangs in balance

Hyderabad: The fate of establishing the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) and Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP) in Kakinada Special Economic Zone (KSEZ) is hanging in balance for more than nine months.

According to the sources, the two institutions have been proposed nearly three years ago for which the Centre had also responded positively. Following this, the State government had allocated 25 acres each for the two institutions.

Speaking to The Hans India, a senior official from the Andhra Pradesh State Industries Department said, "The land allocation was done for both the institutions in SEZ, Kakinada, against the backdrop of the Centre aiming to give an impetus to the port-centric development in the States with coastlines."

As part of the port-centric development activities, the Centre had initiated several projects under the Sagaramala project. This includes making the Railways, Ports, Ministry of Environment and Forests and others to roll out various projects.

Also, different phases under the coastal community development project and others have been completed. In the case of Railways and Ports connectivity projects, execution of works has been going at a brisk pace for the last four years.

However, there are three proposals made by the State government. They include setting up IIFT and IIP, both Central institutions under the Union ministries. That apart, it was also proposed to establish a Logistics University, under the aegis of Andhra Pradesh Ports Department, under the coastal community development programme as part of the Sagaramala Project.

A senior district official from East Godavari said that initially, two separate teams had visited the district for inspection of lands allocated to the IIFT and IIP, both in Kakinada and Rajamahendravaram. The then State government had allocated 25 acres each for both IIFT and IIP in the SEZ, Kakinada.

Following this, an expert team visited the SEZ to inspect the lands allocated nearly nine months ago. The IIFT Kakinada campus is pegged to be off-campus for the IIFT, Kolkata, in addition to the centre it has in Delhi. "The IIFT, Kakinada campus is expected to start its operations and take admissions from the academic year 2020. However, there is no word about it to the State government either from the IIFT or IIP," the sources clarified.

That apart, the Centre is yet to give its nod for the establishing the Logistics University, under the Sagaramala project, the sources said.