The blueprint for the ambitious Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC) project will be finalised by Asian Development Bank shortly.
An eight-member team, headed by Director of ADB South Asia Regional Cooperation Sekhar Bonu, recently visited various sites available in and around the city for allotment to industries, existing infrastructure, including Visakhapatnam and Gangavaram ports, multimodal logistic hub, Hetero Drugs, and Brandix India Apparel City and expressed satisfaction over the growth potential.
APIIC officials showed the team vacant sites available at various sites for allotment to the industries which include 6,940 acres at Nakkapalli, 4,702 acres at Atchutapuram, 1605 acres at Bheemunipatnam, and 629 acres at Pydi Bhimavaram.
“Visakhapatnam and Kakinada will emerge an important industrial cluster in the proposed corridor. The types of industries to be located and how it will be developed have to be finalised. We are expecting a clear picture to emerge in a few days,” Visakhapatnam MP K. Haribabu told The Hindu.
ADB India Director Hum Kim met Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu sometime ago with the concept paper prepared by the experts’ team and promised to arrange an investment of $2.5 billion on infrastructure and other facilities in the corridor. A special officer will be appointed soon to implement the project.
During their visit, the eight-member team was asked by Visakhapatnam Port Chairman M.T. Krishna Babu to lay emphasis on developing freight corridor and inland transport. “We are hopeful that a dedicated freight corridor will be created for easy evacuation of various commodities,” said CII Vizag zone chairman G.V.L. Satya Kumar.
PCPIR projectPetroleum Chemical Petrochemical Investment Region, for which a public hearing will be held by APIIC at Nakkapalli, will also form part of VCIC. The petroleum corridor envisages an investment of Rs.3.43 lakh crore in a span of 10 years.
