Andhra Pradesh signs MoUs with UAE firms, $7.5-billion investment expected

The Andhra Pradesh government on Monday signed two major deals with Dubai-based firms, which could net a total investment of $7.5 billion for the state. 

The AP Economic Development Board signed a memorandum of understanding with Aviation City LLP for developing an aero city hub in Andhra Pradesh with an investment of $5.5 billion.

The Board signed another MoU with Bin Zayed Group, which promised to invest $2 billion in various infrastructure projects in the state.

The deals were struck during the ongoing visit of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to the UAE, the EDB said on Twitter.

The AP government will have to secure 10,000 acres of land for the proposed aero city hub - the location is yet to be decided - which is expected to create 15,000 direct jobs and 5,000 indirect ones.

The Aviation City LLP team will visit the state in November to study the project and will submit a preliminary report in January in Davos.

Bin Zayed International LLC will partner with the AP government for various infrastructure projects.

These projects include Vijayawada Metro Rail, Bhogapuram International Airport, multipurpose port at Ramayapatnam, major arterial ring road and inner ring road (locations not specified) and Bhogapuram-Bhimili and Visakhapatnam-Addaripeta beach corridors.

Emirates "showed interest" in four proposals, a government release said, citing the meeting the chief minister held yesterday with the airline's executives in Dubai.

Emirates, the release said, is interested in developing an airport in the state, providing air connection to three cities (Tirupati, Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada) from Dubai, making Andhra Pradesh a hub for Emirates and establishing an aviation academy.

The chief minister was quoted as saying that the government wants to further the relationship with Emirates and make AP an integrated logistics hub for it.