Making Vizag executive capital will spur growth, says URV

‘The city has ready-made infrastructure such as land and connectivity’

The Uttarandhra Rakshana Vedika (URV) has welcomed Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s idea of making Visakhapatnam the executive capital of the State, and urged him to take a decision to that effect after discussing it in the Cabinet meeting.

Stating that the URV had been demanding that Visakhapatnam be made the Capital of the State since bifurcation, its president S.S. Shiva Sankar said on Wednesday that the TDP government, by making Amaravati the Capital, tried to centralise development.

The YSRCP government’s move to decentralise development and set up the executive capital in Visakhapatnam would help in the overall growth, he told the media here.

Visakhapatnam, he said, was well-connected. It was witnessing rapid economic growth and had two ports, he added. The Visakhapatnam - Chennai Industrial Corridor, being part of the East Coast Economic Corridor, would further boost development, he said.

“Land is available as the Revenue Department identified 18,000 acres in the Anakapalli and Narsipatnam areas. Besides, 5,000 acres of Wakf land that is under encroachment can also be utilised,” Mr. Shiva Sankar said.

This apart, the APIIC, which had acquired around 10,000 acres for several big projects that never took off, could also be put to use, he added.

‘Boost to backward areas’

Location of the executive capital in Visakhapatnam would not only reduce financial burden on the government but also give a fillip to one of the most backward areas, he said. Besides, it would arrest migration from the region to other States, he added.

URV member V.V. Rao and secretary D.V.T. Ganesh were present.