Cyclone Hudhud: Vizag’s image takes a beating
All the major industries in Vizag have suffered huge damages and losses
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2014-10-16 03:20 GMT
Visakhapatnam: Apart from loss of property post Cyclone Hudhud, Vizag has also lost its brand image as the only investment destination in Andhra Pradesh. There are many investment proposals in the pipeline.
Ever since the agitation for a separate state of Telangana gained momentum after 2009, investors had started focusing on Vizag. As many as 80 Industry Enterprise Memorandums, worth Rs 85,000 crore, have been signed since then. But all the major industries in Vizag have suffered huge damages and losses and it will take at least six months for them to recover.
“There are some industries that will take a lot of time to recover,” observed former chairman of Confederation of Indian Industry, Vizag chapter, G. Sambasiva Rao.
IT units, that were on the hills overlooking the sea near Rushikonda, have suffered huge damages and operations are shut.
“As of now, we don’t see any sudden slide in the market. IT may have suffered a long-term impact,” said Anand Kumar of the Visakhapatnam Apartment Builders’ Association.
The prospects of the real estate sector, which was banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Smart City” assurance, have crashed. The PM’s recent visit to Vizag has infused confidence among prospective investors and Vizag will remerge, and it’s only a matter of time.
The US pledging support to the Union government in making Vizag a Smart City had brought cheers to the real estate sector which was in distress after the city lost out in the battle for the AP capital. “As of now we don’t see any sudden slide in the market. IT may have a long term impact,” said Mr Anand Kumar of Visakhapatnam Apartment Builders Association.
But some realtors and builders privately agreed that there were high chances of outsiders, who had wanted to buy properties in Vizag, backing out after the Hudhud devastation.
However, the PM’s visit to Vizag a day after the cyclone has infused confidence among prospective investors that the promise of a Smart City will be fulfilled and Vizag will remerge, and that it’s only a matter of time.