State to get another CIPET in Vijayawada

Vijayawada: Union minister for chemical and fertilisers D V Sadananda Gowda said the Union government would sanction the second campus of Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology (CIPET) to the state at Nayudupet in Nellore district.

The Union minister along with Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy inaugurated the CIPET campus constructed at a cost of Rs.50 crore at Surampalli on Vijayawada-Agiripalli route on Thursday.

The Central and state governments spent Rs.25 crore each for construction of the CIPET campus near Vijayawada. Foundation stone for the campus was laid in 2015. Speaking on the occasion, Sadananda Gowda assured the state government that another CIPET campus would be sanctioned to the state.

He was responding to the request of Jagan Mohan Reddy who sought another CIPET campus for the state. The Union minister said the Central government had set up 37 CIPET campuses in the country with another five under construction.

He said plastic pollution was the major cause for concern and the Central government institutions were doing innovative research on how to check it. "No doubt plastic plays a very important role in our lives.

People use goods made of plastic like pen to spare parts used for Chandrayaan mission. At the same time, managing plastic waste is also very important for the country and government is trying for innovative methods to check its harmful effects," Gowda said.

He said Vijayawada was an important centre for industries and CIPET would help promotion of industries in the region. India has an advantage of having 65 per cent population below the 35 years of age and has chance to become a developed nation, he observed.

Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy said the state government would set up 25 skill development centres in all the 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state to enable effective implementation of recently-enacted law that provides for 75 per cent of jobs in private industries to locals.

He requested the Union government to sanction more institutions to the state for its development. Industries minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy said youth play an important role in the development of the state. He explained the measures being taken by the state government for the industrial development in the state.

Machilipatnam MP V Balashouri urged the Union minister to help in ensuring adequate supply of coal to the thermal stations in the state to address the power shortage problem. Chief secretary L V Subrahmanyam, endowments minister Velampalli Srinivas, district collector Md Imtiaz, joint collector K Madhavi Latha, MLAs, faculty and staff of the CIPET and others attended the inauguration event. Earlier, Sadananda Gowda and Jagan visited the exhibition of plastic products arranged on the campus.