Amaravati, June 6 Eight districts will be part of Visakha Economic Region which will be developed as the growth engine of Andhra Pradesh, aiming for a $120 billion economy in this region by 2032.
During a review meeting on Friday with NITI Aayog officials at the Secretariat, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu emphasised the need to transform Visakhapatnam into another Mumbai in the next seven years.
Visakha Economic Region will cover districts of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Srikakulam, Anakapalli, Kakinada, East Godavari, Alluri Sitharamaraju and Manyam.
The Chief Minister instructed officials to develop projects that will boost economic activity across the region and he asked them to identify one lakh acres for various projects.
The Visakha Region spans 36,000 square kilometers and is home to a population of 15.5 million. Its current GDP is around $49 billion. The Chief Minister noted that the region could generate 20 to 24 lakh jobs by 2032, making it crucial to the state's future growth.
The Chief Minister proposed development centered around 6 ports, 7 manufacturing nodes, 17 major agricultural zones, 6 service hubs, and 12 tourism hubs. NITI Aayog officials presented a detailed PowerPoint presentation.
The officials outlined plans around seven growth drivers: ports, IT, agriculture, tourism, healthcare, urban development, and infrastructure. A total of 41 key projects are to be prioritised for implementation.
If these plans are realised within the next seven years, the region could see the construction of 7.5 lakh housing units, 10,000 hotel rooms, up to 20 innovation centers, 10 colleges, 7,000 hospital beds, industrial development across 20,000 hectares, 80 million sq. ft. of office space, and 60 million sq. ft. of warehousing capacity, the officials told the Chief Minister.
“We will develop beach roads from Mulapeta to Visakhapatnam and Visakhapatnam to Kakinada. These will be connected to national highways. The coast is a treasure trove -- we must leverage it fully. Tourism is being treated as an industry, and our new policy is very investor-friendly,” the Chief Minister said.
Other issues discussed during the meeting include developing Visakhapatnam as a steel hub in collaboration with the country’s top 3 steel firms; focus on petrochemicals, gas grid, port development, petrochem-medical tech, shipbuilding, defence, electronics, clean tech, and labor-intensive manufacturing.
The state has set a target of 4-5 lakh jobs in the IT sector over the next 7 years with emphasis on setting up data centers, startups, and innovation hubs. It was also noted that in addition to four ongoing railway projects, seven new railway projects to be completed by 2032. Nine new road projects will be launched to support manufacturing nodes and ports.
The meeting also discussed the Vizag Metro project, covering 77 km, scheduled between 2028 and 2030.
The meeting was attended by Minister Gottipati Ravikumar, NITI Aayog CEO B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary Vijay Anand, representatives of the ISEG Foundation, and other senior officials.
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