Is AP seeking Telangana as partner in Masula port?

Amaravati: Will Andhra Pradesh government extend an offer of partnership to Telangana government to construct Machilipatnam port?

This is the talk in the political circles following scrapping of the contract given to Navayuga engineering company for the Machilipatnam port.

It may be mentioned here that the Andhra Pradesh government, which is having cordial and friendly relations with neighbouring Telugu state Telangana, has already decided to be a partner in construction of irrigation projects in Telangana.

In a similar way, it may offer partnership for construction of Machilipatnam port since it would also benefit Telangana as it does not have any port of its own.

Official sources, however, say that AP government would take up construction of the port through government agencies. The foundation for the Machilipatnam port was laid by then Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and it was estimated to cost Rs 12,000 crore.

Indeed, the project was allotted to MAYTAS Infra Limited in the Congress regime in 2009. After the MAYTAS financial crisis, the work was awarded to NECL as a lead promoter.

The state government has also acquired land from the farmers for construction purpose. The first phase of the project was to be completed in 18 months. The company started works in the February last by shifting some machinery to the proposed port site.

Minister for Industries M Goutam announced that the state government would soon come up with new action plan. The minister also said that the government would return the land to farmers.