Saturday, June 7, 2008

AP Coastal Corridor project gets in-principle nod from Centre


Hyderabad, May 29 The Union Government has agreed to support the Coastal Corridor project covering the districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam and East Godavari District in the State.

“Officials from the Union Government were keen to know about the proposed Coastal Corridor such as the basic infrastructure, industries that are likely to come up in the region and connectivity issues and after our presentation, they gave an in-principle approval to the project,” Mr B Sam Bob, Principal Secretary, Industries and Commerce Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh, told Business Line. According to him, the Government will now look to develop a four or six-lane road parallel to the existing National Highway to support the port-based industries.

According to the initial plan, the Andhra Pradesh Government is looking at developing the 30-km road from Visakhapatnam to Gangavaram Port.

“The total distance that has been identified is 138 km, but we have been asked implement it in a phased manner. So, that is why, in the first phase, we are looking at completing the road from Visakhapatnam to Gangavaram port in the next two years,” Mr Bob said.

The total cost of the project, though not yet finalised, is estimated to be around Rs 5,500 crore and in the first phase, around Rs 1,100 crore has to be invested.

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