KAKINADA: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy would lay the stone for construction of the Machilipatnam port on Dec 21, marking his birthday. The work on the Bhavanapadu port would also be taken up soon, industries minister G Amaranath said here on Friday. The work for the Machilipatnam port would cost `4,000 crore.
The minister said the Visakhapatnam-Kakinada petrochemical corridor would come up and become one of the biggest trade centres in the coming years. The Information Technology sector would also be developed in the area.
He, along with roads and building minister Dadisetty Raja also laid the stone for development works at Kakinada anchorage port. The work would cost `90 crore. “A new port will be coming up at Kakinada SEZ area and a total of 10 ports will be functional in AP in the coming years. These ports would increase the revenue sources for the state. This apart, nine fishing harbours are being built. Lakhs of people would get employment with the ports and fishing harbours, he said.
The minister said the Kakinada coast would become a export and import hub and the Kakinada anchorage port is providing direct and indirect employment to 30,000 persons.
“There were rumours that Kakinada anchorage port would be closed, but chief minister Jagan Reddy is keen on developing the port. The port has a capacity of 4 million tonnes and this will be increased by another million tonnesn, providing employment to 5,000 people.”
He said that already the ports of Visakhapatnam, Gangavaram, the Kakinada deep water port, Kakinada anchorage port and the Ravva and Krishnapatnam ports were functioning and another three new ports would be coming up.
The Ramayyapatnam port works, at a cost of `3,500 crore, have been taken up. A bulk drug park would be set up at Kakinada SEZ at a cost of `1,000 crore by providing direct employment to 20,000 persons and indirect employment to as many.
R&B minister Dadisetty Raja said Andhra Pradesh is in the forefront in the ‘ease of doing business’ parameters and also in GDP growth. Kakinada MP Vanga Gita pleaded for an airport for Kakinada district.
Amaranath inaugurated a new ship, built by a Kakinada-based company at a cost of Rs 39 crore. He expressed hope that more ships would be built in Kakinada.
While Kakinada MLA Dwarampudi Chandrasekhara Reddy presided over the programme, Kakinada Rural MLA Kurasala Kannababu, AP maritime board chairman K Venkata Reddy, deputy chief executive officer BM Ravindra Reddy, Kakinada district collector Kritika Shukla and others were present.
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