Visakhapatnam remains hot destination for huge investments by industries

Visakhapatnam: Visakhapatnam may have lost out to Vijayawada in the race for the capital but the city is turning into a hot destination for big ticket investments starting from the proposed PCPIR, Vizag-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC), ITIR and the latest to join the list — Entertainment City proposed by Eros Investment Ltd (EIL).

All these proposals and projects are expected to attract investments worth a few billion dollars in the coming days. To top it all, the US has evinced interest in transforming Vizag into a Smart City.

The proposed PCPIR corridor along the 640 sqkm stretch between Vizag and Kakinada which was delayed for over five years has seen some progress recently, with AP Pollution Control Board (APPCB), deciding to hold the public hearing on environment on December 18.

The state government appointed APIIC as the nodal agency for development of PCPIR and is planning to invest around Rs 19,031 crore to provide infrastructure. The government aims at attracting Rs 3,43,000 crore investments with employment potential of 12 lakh.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced that Vizag would house one of the five industrial parks planned by it in Andhra Pradesh as part of Vizag-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC).

ADB country director Hun Kim and his team  who met Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu two months ago, assured him of submitting a report on the investments very soon.

It is learnt that the ADB will be investing 2.5 billion dollars along the VCIC and Vizag would have hardware, software, petrochemicals and maritime industrial park.

“Chief Minister Chandrabbau Naidu has a proven track-record of developing Hyderabad and putting the city on the global map with the help of funds from the ADB. We are hopeful that the same magic will be repeated in Vizag too with ADB agreeing to be partner of VCIC. There are so many investments expected to pour in which will trigger economy and also provide employment,” CII Vizag chapter vice-chairman Neeraj Sarda told Deccan Chronicle.

The state government is expected to submit a detailed project report to the Centre on the ITIR, which is expected to attract global and domestic investments in both hardware and software sectors.

The new proposal for Entertainment City for which the AP government signed an MoU last Saturday with UK-based Eros Investment Ltd (EIL) is also expected to attract investments worth Rs 60,000 crore in the near future.

A team from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) had visited Vizag in July and met senior officials.

Prominently, they met Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) chairman M.T. Krishna Babu and discussed about the future projected demand, growth of cargo handling, capacity augmentation, present traffic and cargo handling.

The ADB team comprised experts from Pricewater House Coopers (PWC) and an independent consultant, John Arnold.

The Vizag-Chennai industrial corridor (VCIC) will be developed in four phases on the lines of Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor. The VCIC has been sanctioned as part of state bifurcation deal.