Minister for Industries and Information Technology Gudivada Amarnath has ridiculed the statements of former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and other Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders that the foundation stone for the Bhogapuram international airport and Adani Data Centre have already been laid during the TDP term.
Addressing the media here on Tuesday, Mr. Amarnath said that Mr. Naidu had laid the stone for the airport on February 15, 2019, days ahead of the issuance of the election notification.
Land acquisition for the airport project had not been done, and the extent proposed was under litigation, Mr. Amarnath alleged. Similarly, Mr. Naidu had laid the stone for the Ramayapatnam port too without obtaining the mandatory approvals, the Minister said.
“On the contrary, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is keen on obtaining approvals and clearing the legal hurdles prior to laying the foundation stones to facilitate commencement of work without much delay. Work on the Mulapeta port in Srikakulam district, for which the Chief Minister laid the stone recently, will begin in a few days,” Mr. Amarnath said.
“The target is to ensure that the first domestic flight lands at Bhogapuram airport in 30 months, and the first international flight four months later.”Gudivada Amarnath Minister of Industries and IT
“The target is to ensure that the first domestic flight lands at the Bhogapuram airport in 30 months, and the first international flight four months later,” the Minister said.
Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari had given his consent for the six-lane road from Visakhapatnam to Bhogapuram, which would be taken up at a cost of ₹6,500 crore, the Minister said, and added that the State government agreed to provide ₹1,200 crore towards land acquisition for the project.
Data centre
A data centre would be established at the Vizag Tech Park by the Adani Group, for which the Chief Minister would lay the stone on Wednesday, he said. The Adani Data Centre and the tech park at Kapuluppada would be set up at an estimated cost of ₹14,000 crore. The project was expected to generate 14,000 jobs, he added.
Mr. Amarnath said these projects would spur development of the north Andhra region. Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram would be developed as twin cities on the lines of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. He said a committee, headed by the Chief Secretary, was constituted to expedite the investment proposals received during the Global Investors’ Summit.
