AP CM unveils pylon to mark foundation stone laying of port

: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu Wednesday unveiled a pylon, marking the foundation-stone laying for the development of Ramayapatnam port at Ravuru village in Prakasam district.

He also witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Asia Pulp and Paper, an Indonesian company, and the AP Economic Development Board for the setting up of the "worlds biggest" paper producing unit at an investment of Rs 24,500 crore (3.5 billion USD).

The state government has formed a Special Purpose Vehicle, the AP Maritime Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited, to develop the Ramayapatnam port at a cost of Rs 4,240 crore (phase-1) with eight berths.

The port, proposed to be developed on a 3,092 acre site, will have a capacity of 40 million tonnes per annum, according to Director of Ports, Koya Praveen.

RITES, a Government of India undertaking, is expected to submit the detailed project report for the port by the end of June this year and the tender process for the development work will be completed by December, according to Praveen.

"Construction work is expected to begin in January 2020 and the port operations are likely to commence in January 2023," he added.

Meanwhile, the EDB claimed the proposed paper unit of APP, a subsidiary of Indonesian giant Sinar Mas Group, would be the largest in the world with a single-point investment of 3.5 billion USD.

It will have a total capacity of 4.3 million tonnes per annum, wherein ivory boards, art boards, duplex, copier, wood-free paper and cup stocks will be manufactured, an official release said.

The project would create 4,000 direct jobs and another 12,000 indirect jobs.

The release said the project would be completed in two phases, but did not specify the timelines, even as the Chief Minister asked APP to complete it within 20 months.