AP State on port-led growth voyage

Visakhapatnam: Recovering fast from the onslaught of Covid-19 pandemic, Andhra Pradesh is marching ahead in port-led development. Further, the State government is aiming to reduce logistics cost for the industry and business firms.

The AP government has already unveiled an action plan to develop new ports and fishing harbours. The Greenfield ports are coming up at Machilipatnam (35 MT) envisaging an investment of Rs2,600 crore, Ramayapatnam (25 MT) at Rs3,650 crore, which are close to rich hinterlands of undivided coastal districts Krishna, West Godavari, Guntur, Prakasam and Nellore. Moreover, the new ports in progress are near to land-locked Telangana and Chennai port with scope for traffic diversion. Another port is also developed at Bhavanapadu in Srikakulam district, which is close to Odisha and Chhattisgarh.

Visakhapatnam-Kakinada Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) is mooted for development in an area of 603 sq km envisaging an investment of Rs3.43 lakh crore. In the region, the expansion of HPCL Visakh Refinery from 8.33 million tonne to 15 million tonne with an estimated investment of Rs20,928 crore is on verge of completion. A petro corridor at Kakinada is also being developed with an investment of Rs25,000 crore.

Another initiative to change the industrial landscape is the proposed beach corridor project, a six lane road from Bheemunipatnam to Bhogapuram. The Centre recently gave in-principle clearance to construction of an international airport by the State Government and GMR Group under PPP mode. Bhogapuram is located 40 km from Visakhapatnam.

The upcoming power plants, Special Economic Zones (SEZs), agricultural, tobacco and aqua products in addition to coal cargo are expected to provide business for Machilipatnam and Ramayapatnam ports. There is a proposal to set up a mega nuclear power plant at Kovvada in Srikakulam district by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) with an estimated investment of Rs1 lakh crore. The Centre recently gave its nod for six nuclear reactors each of 1,208 MW capacity.