Manufacturing cluster to make Tirupati e-hub

Vijayawada: The AP state cabinet which met here on Tuesday cleared a proposal to set up an electronics manufacturing cluster II in 322 acres at a cost of Rs 2,827.5 crore near Tirupati. 

With the creation of the cluster, Tirupati will now be poised to become an electronics hub. The new cluster has a potential to provide employment to 52,900 youths. For developing infrastructure, the state government would have to spend about Rs 30.7 crore.

By another decision, the cabinet approved proposal to raise Rs 1,320 crore loan by Machilipatnam Urban Development Authority. AP State government would stand guarantee for the loan. Another decision pertained to payment of Rs 33 lakh per acre to the owners from whom land was acquired for construction of Bhogapuram airport near Visakhapatnam.

The cabinet decided that the target for housing would be 19 lakh units by 2019. It wanted the officials to work with a sense of dedication to meet the target. The cabinet allocated Rs 500 crore to acquire lands for housing to the poor. House to be constructed in UDA limits. For each unit, subsidy would be Rs 2 lakh in villages. The cabinet also decided that Ongole dairy should be reopened by infusing Rs 35 crore into it which would be made available to the dairy in the form of a loan.

The cabinet waved green flag for evolving an action plan to develop a communications tower by forming a joint venture company. A sum of Rs 2,000 crore would be allotted for this purpose. AP towers corporation will act as the nodal agency. The cabinet has cleared a proposal to develop Kakinada port into a commercial one and allocated Rs 200 crore to develop infrastructure.

The cabinet permitted private polytechnic colleges to hike fee from Rs 15,500 to Rs 25,000. By another decision, the cabinet cleared Rs 3,878 crore for increasing the capacity of Velugonda project from 85 cubic metre per second (cumec) to 320 cumec.