Visakhapatnam to be made Mega City

Visakhapatnam: While Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, has announced the capital will be located in and around Vijayawada, which is centrally located in the state, many sops were also announced for Vizag as part of decentralisation of the development and growth across the state. Vizag would be one of the three Mega cities in the state that was planned by the state government. City would also have an IIM, IIFT, international airport, mega IT hub, electronics manufacturing hub, innovation and incubation hub, food park, exhibition cum convention centre, Gangavaram LNG terminal and railway zone.

However, there is no clarity on the recommendation of Sivaramakrishnan Committee to shift 108 government offices related to ports, shipping and seafood exports to Vizag. The Sivaramakrishnan Committee observed that Vizag zone comprising Vuda area from Srikakulam to Kakinada of 5573 sq kms is long regarded as the centre of heavy industry, manufacturing, ports and technical institutions of various kinds. To facilitate the development of this area the committee recommended that the various government offices in particular those dealing with industry, manufacturing, ports, shipping, petrochemical, technical education etc are to be located in this particular zone. The committee felt that Vizag zone has potential to emerge as a high-tech zone.

“There is no doubt that there will be rapid industrial growth in and around Vizag due to various advantages this region has been offering since so long. The tax holiday and special status to the state will actually accelerate the growth prospects in this zone. In my opinion Vizag doesn’t need any capital status for its development. It’s one of the top 10 GDP earning cities in the country,” said CII Vizag zone vice-chairman Neeraj Sarda. Separate railway zone with headquarters at Vizag has also been a long-pending demand even before the state bifurcation issue gained steam. Mr Naidu has also mentioned in the statement about new railway zone at Vizag.