Andhra sends Sagarmala proposals worth Rs 1.30 lakh crore

The Andhra Pradesh government has sent 90 proposals worth Rs 1,30,762 crore to the Centre under Sagarmala, the national project aimed at improving the coastline and inland waterways, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said on Wednesday.

He asked officials to prepare an action plan for all the projects.

The government constituted a 33-member committee for speedy completion of various works under Sagaramala.

The committee, headed by the Chief Minister, will oversee the projects. The panel will bring together all concerned departments and review the works on daily basis.

At the first meeting of the committee, Naidu said that with second longest coastline in the country, Andhra Pradesh has many opportunities for a coast-led industrial economy.

He reminded the officers that sourcing raw material at reasonable rate is the key for development.

"We need an action plan to make sure that the project is completed within time. Identify ports as clusters," an official statement quoted him as saying.

Naidu said that the Krishnapatanam port will soon be made a national employment zone. He called for interlinking of ports, corridors and highways to give impetus to industrial development.

Union Minister for Transport Nitin Gadkari had said in January that two coastal economic zones will be created in Andhra Pradesh at a cost of Rs 20,000 crore as part of the Sagarmala project.

The zones -- one covering Srikakulam to Vijayawada and the other from Vijayawada to Nellore -- will come under Visakhapatnam-Chennai industrial corridor.

He had also said that the work on National Waterway 4 or Buckingham Canal (1,095-km long) in Andhra Pradesh will begin after the assembly elections in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

The cost of this joint venture project between the state and central governments is Rs 2,000 crore.

--IANS

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