Asian Development Bank, which has partnered with the State government for development of Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC), is finalising the blueprint raising hopes among investors on showcasing AP as Sunrise State.
Manufacturing sector, which holds key to development, will get a fillip as two other corridors – Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC) covering Anantapur, Chittoor and Nellore districts and Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR) between Visakhapatnam and Kakinada are contemplated.
“We are expecting a lot of opportunities for investment in various sectors due to the proposed corridors,” said Andhra Chamber of Commerce & Industry Federation vice-president G. Sambasiva Rao.
VCIC is touted as one of the dream projects to transform AP as the most developed State within 10 years of its commissioning. It will be developed in two or three phases.
Once completed, ADB projections say, manufacturing output will reach Rs.3 lakh crore by 2025 and Rs.7.82 lakh crore by 2035.
ADB has finalised development of four economic nodes viz. Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Gangavaram-Kankipadu and Yerpedu-Srikalahasti. An official of APIIC said Visakhapatnam node will focus on pharmaceuticals, metallurgy, non-metallic minerals, chemical, petrochemicals and food processing. While Kakinada node will promote food processing, chemical and petrochemical, paper and non-metallic minerals, Gangavaram-Kankipadu node will focus on pharmaceuticals, metallurgy, food processing and non-metallic minerals and Yerpedu-Srikalahasti node electrical equipment, textiles, food processing, metallurgy and non-metallic minerals.
In another development, the Centre has accorded in-principle approval for establishing two National Investment and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs) in Chittoor and Prakasam. Each spread over at least 5,000 hectares, the zones will promote industrialisation with a slew of incentives.
Under Smart Industrial Townships, the State government wants to create robust infrastructure, which include fibre connectivity with no bandwidth hurdles, four-lane road to the nearest highway, dedicated feeder for 24x7 power supply, dedicated water supply, right of way to create connectivity to the nearest railway line and port.
“The government has set the tone for converting AP into an advanced State. Now everyone is looking at implementation of all the projects in a time-bound manner,” said Vizagapatam Chamber of Commerce and Industry secretary S.P. Ravindra.
(Reporting by
Santosh Patnaik)
