Five private universities get nod to set up campuses in AP

Andhra Pradesh Government today decided to issue Letters of Intent to five private universities for setting up their campuses in the State.
The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu here this afternoon.
While Amity, SRM and VIT would set up campuses in the new capital region Amaravati, Centurion would open a university on its own land in Vizianagaram district.
The Fisheries and Ocean University would come up in Bhimavaram, Information and Public Relations Minister Palle Raghunatha Reddy told mediapersons after the meeting.
The Cabinet, at its meeting last month, decided to allot 150 acres of land for Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) in Amaravati while the request of Amity and SRM for land was under consideration.

The Cabinet today also decided to permit setting up of six "functional universities" in the Public-Private Partnership mode, the Information Minister said.

The functional universities would come in the fields of water, energy, logistics, sports, hospitality and fisheries with the respective Government departments tying up with private parties, Reddy added.
In another decision, the Cabinet approved the setting up of AP Innovation Society, "the first-of-its-kind in the country", to promote innovation, incubation and start-ups.
The Society would have chapters in each district, said Reddy, who also handles the Information Technology portfolio.
In another policy decision aimed at boosting job opportunities, the Government decided to set up MSME Parks (micro, small and medium enterprises) in each of the 175 Assembly segments in the State.

"Each MSME Park will come up in 100 acres and each will create 1,000 (total 1.75 lakh) jobs. The Government will develop necessary infrastructure like roads, water and power supply for the parks," Palle said.
"Land is readily available in 117 Assembly segments. We have to procure land in the rest of the segments."
The Cabinet approved allocation of several thousand acres of land in districts for various purposes. In district of Visakhapatnam, 742 acres would be given for setting up the Knowledge Hub project through the Higher Education Department.
Bharat Electronics, a defence PSU, would be allotted 45.27 acres at Palasamudram village, Anantapuramu district for setting up a test-bed facility for radars and weapons systems.

Each acre would be sold at Rs 3 lakh. The Government also decided to acquire 125 acres at Veerapanenigudem village near Vijayawada for setting up an engineering cluster for the manufacture of defence machinery equipment.
"Already 86 acres is available for the cluster. In all 78 companies will invest Rs 200 crore in the project and create 2,000 jobs," Reddy said.