Sunday 13 July 2014

Coming soon: Maritime hub

Coming soon: Maritime hub



The Andhra Pradesh government is preparing plans to develop its nearly 900 km-long coastline into an international maritime centre (IMC) by developing a string of ports starting from Krishnapatnam in Nellore to Kalingapatnam in Srikakulam by roping in the Union government. 

Chief minister Chandrababu Naidu will soon come out with a detailed plan on the steps the government is planning to initiate to develop AP's coastline into an IMC. 

He is also expected to visit New Delhi after the budget session of Parliament to present the plan to the Centre. 

"The idea behind the plan is to make Andhra Pradesh a leading maritime hub in the East that would rival Singapore which is in the commanding heights of eastern sea trade," said Parakala Prabhakar, noted economist and communications advisor to the AP government. 

A maritime hub in the eastern coast would boost the country's trade and economic links with the east and far-east, Parakala said adding that this would become a major attraction for the centre to participate in the project in a big way. 

In the eastern coast, with its long coastline, Andhra Pradesh alone has the potential to become an international maritime centre and this is the reason why many eastern countries such as Thailand and Singapore want AP to become their investment destination, Prabhakar added. 

Stating that the government is fully engaged in the preparation of the plans, the AP government's advisor said: "Since the centre has decided to convert the Vizag-Chennai belt into an industrial corridor and with Vizag poised to emerge as a major IT investment region, the state government is expecting the Centre's full scale participation in the massive project," he said. 

As part of this, the state will revive the 422-km-long Buckingham Canal, which runs between Kakinada and Puducherry and develop this into an important inland waterway. "Reviving the canal will provide cheaper transport facility for the industrial corridor and petro-chemical corridors. It will also promote tourism. The state is keen on the project and details of the project will be unveiled soon," said Parakala. Andhra Pradesh is buoyed by the response it is getting from the eastern countries, especially Singapore, to invest in the state. "Our efforts to promote trade with the eastern countries are yielding fruits. A major trade delegation is visiting AP to have high-level talks with the chief minister in the second week of August," he added. According to Prabhakar, the visit of the delegation is the result of the talks the Singapore Foreign Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam had with chief minister Naidu in Hyderabad in the first week of July.
The outcome of the Singapore delegation's visit to the state is expected to set a trend in the investment flow into Andhra Pradesh, he said. 

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