Thrust on industrialisation of coastal districts is set to result in a spurt in urbanisation over the medium to long term.
By virtue of their location in the East Coast Economic Corridor (the region between Chennai and Kolkata) and the kind of industrial expansion plans governments have for them, coastal Andhra Pradesh is set to be more urbanised in about two decades.
According to a study conducted by a team of experts led by N. Sridharan, Director of School of Planning and Architecture (of Union Ministry of Human Resources Development), the total population of Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam and Nellore districts will be around 31 million by 2031 of which 47 per cent will be urban, up 14 per cent from 33 per cent in 2011 .
Visakhapatnam and Nellore have high potential for industrialisation and with it urbanisation, thanks to the infrastructure facilities. Following closely are Guntur, Krishna and East Godavari districts.
Among them, Visakhapatnam has highest percentage of urban population at 47.5 followed by Krishna with 41 per cent, Guntur (33.9), Nellore (29.1) and East Godavari (25.5). The lowest industrially developed districts, West Godavari, Srikakulam and Prakasam, have an urban population of 20.5 per cent, 16.2 per cent and 19.5 per cent respectively.
Going by the available figures, a positive correlation between industrial development and urbanisation is evident, Mr. Sridharan told The Hindu . It makes the job of policy planners extremely difficult due to the inherent challenges like the development process coming into conflict with livelihood issues. Based on their potential, Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts are poised to be transformed into a petrochemical and pharmaceutical investment region, Krishna and Guntur into hub of agro-based and allied industry in addition to auto cluster and Prakasam and Nellore textile and machinery cluster drawing a huge workforce.
Anantapur and Kurnool districts have the potential to be developed into a mining and knowledge corridor. The larger picture of the entire region being promoted as a logistics hub will only add to the prospects of urbanisation, according to Confederation of Indian Industry Vijayawada Zone chairman V.V.M. Krishna.
