The proximity to the metropolitan cities of Chennai and Bengaluru, the presence of an international airport and the Krishnapatnam seaport render the newly-carved Tirupati district an impressive potential for industrial growth. However, several infrastructural bottlenecks seem to prevent the district from realising it.
Tirupati district has an excellent road network, rail connectivity, abundant land bank, water resources and stable power supply. Interestingly, this region falls in the ambit of the Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC) as well as the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC), promising an array of opportunities for the industry.
Sri City, which forms the epicentre of the Chennai-Tirupati-Nellore tri-city junction, has been recognised as one of the ten key manufacturing regions in India with a high potential to attract global investments. The ecosystem for automobile and electronic sectors is so powerful that Apollo Tyres and Hero Motors established their plants very near to it.
Apart from Sri City, there are major industrial hubs viz., the two Electronic Manufacturing Clusters (EMC I & II) at Renigunta, Yerpedu-Srikalahasti node, Menakuru and Mambattu.
Impediments galore
In spite of this edge, there have been quite a few issues left unaddressed for a long time such as delayed payment of incentives, demand for the waiver of minimum power demand charges of MSMEs and the plea to improve facilities for cargo bookings at the Tirupati airport.
The industry has been feeling the pinch in the form of prohibitive costs due to the high fuel prices in Andhra Pradesh compared to the neighbouring States of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
The highway network connecting Tirupati is apparently impressive, but the roads leading to the industrial hubs are in abysmal shape and need to be widened and strengthened.
The Srikalahasti–Tada highway also needs to be upgraded to four lanes and connectivity must be established to the Kadur-Satyavedu-Uthukkotai to facilitate faster and safer movement of heavy vehicles.
