25,000 villages set to log into WiFi by December

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said that 25,000 villages in the state would be connected by WiFi by December. The Chief Minister said the officials need to focus specially in that direction and the process of developing smart cities must be carried out with an aim of developing AP into a knowledge economy.

On the second day of Collector’s Conference held here on Wednesday, Naidu reviewed the progress and achievements of department of energy, infrastructure & investment.

When the officials briefed the Chief Minister on the status of AP Fiber connections and said a total of 2,14,100 household connections were given out across 13 districts under phase-1, Naidu said 25,000 villages in the state would be connected by WiFi by December.

He said, “We need to develop a culture where we can provide maximum services in the state. AP must develop its service sector in a way that would not just bring great name to the state but also help in generating revenue for us.”

Principal secretary to energy, infrastructure & investments Ajay Jain briefed Naidu on the upcoming solar parks in Anantapur, Kurnool and Kadapa. These solar parks will have a capacity of 4,000 MW of which 1,250 MW have been already commissioned and 1,050 MW project is under construction, he said.

Ajay Jain said 978 acres land has been identified at Ramagiri, Anantapur for construction of 160 MW solar wind hybrid project which will have a storage capacity of 40 MWH.Reviewing on electric vehicles, Naidu said all the collectors must ensure that garbage collection vehicles also have to come under electric vehicles category.

“If we manage to popularise electric vehicles in two and three-wheelers also, it would be a game changer and very cost effective in the long run. You all must also look at ways to convert existing vehicles into electric ones if possible,” he said. In power department, Naidu said the overall satisfaction level was 71 per cent and the department must focus on service standards along with delivery mechanisms to bring that up.

Officials also informed that ports in AP have grown by 15 per cent year-on-year basis from 131 MMT to 150 MMT. Specifically, the ports under AP government have increased their port areas by 24 per cent.

Kakinada-Srikakulam Pipeline has been scheduled to be completed by December 2019 and Kakinada-Puttaparthi section’s construction would be starting from July 2018. Domestic gas pipeline works have been undertaken in 17 cities and towns in 3 districts with 17,016 houses registering for the same.

The Chief Minister also suggested taking measures to arrange airports in all districts and he permitted to change the names of Dagadharthi airport as Nellore airport and Orvakallu airport as Kurnool airport. Reviewing on economic townships, Naidu said the construction of economic cities must be speed up.

“Development of townships and other infrastructure must be done in a way where everything is evenly spread out across the city. The projects must not be concentrated at same place as it would lead to unaffordable prices in that area. Instead we must identify and develop infrastructure across the city is different pockets,” said the Chief Minister.