Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday gave a fillip to the growth of the backward Prakasam district by roping in paper major Asia Pulp and Paper for the world’s largest paper plant and committing to simultaneously develop a port at Ramayapatnam.
After exchanging an MoU with the APP, the world’s largest manufacturer of pulp and paper products at Ravuru, he said he would ensure completion of the $3.5-billion project in two phases to produce 5 million tonnes of pulp, paper and board. “From this day the first phase of the project will be completed in 18 to 20 months to make this place a single largest pulp and paper manufacturing site in the world,” he said after holding parleys with Suresh Kilam, Executive Director, APP, and Joseph Myers, Vice-Director, APP, part of the Sinar Mas Group, one of Indonesia’s largest conglomerates.
Coinciding with this mega project, the first phase of the sea port would be developed at ₹4,240 crore with eight berths to handle 40 million tonnes of cargo per annum, including granite blocks, coal, fertilizer and edible oil, he said. Work on the port project would commence in January 2020 and be completed in January 2023.
Cargo traffic
He projected a cargo traffic of 46.59 million tonnes in 2025-26 and 96.08 million tonnes in 2035-36.
Allaying the fears of fishermen, he said a fishing harbour would be developed along with the port. “The port being developed with private sector participation will be more efficient than those that operate in the public sector,” he said.
The Jindal Steel and Power company would set up a steel plant close to the proposed port and develop two berths at ₹1,000 crore, besides bringing in another ₹2,500 crore to lay iron ore slurry pipeline from here to the JSW steel plant in Karnataka. Ramco Cements had also given EoI for the development of one captive berth, official sources said.
