Machilipatnam has potential to develop on lines of Mumbai, Chennai: AP CM Jagan

Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy has predicted bright future Machilipatnam and said it had the potential to develop

Machilipatnam: Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy has predicted bright future Machilipatnam which is known as Bandar, and said it had the potential to develop on lines of Mumbai and Chennai cities.

Addressing a public meeting after formally launching the Rs. 5,156 crore Machilipatnam Port works and unveiling a pylon, he noted that the Bandar port was a long cherished dream which was coming true now. “We have overcome court cases and completed land acquisition, and got the necessary clearances. The port will have four berths and to begin with it will have a capacity to handle 35 million tonnes. Once the traffic improves, It could expand up to 116 million tonne capacity,” he stated.

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Jagan also said that the connectivity infra to the port was being constructed – a national highway was coming up only 6.5 km away and the Gudivada-Machilipatnam railway line located at 7.5 km. distance.

The Machilipatnam port would be useful to the neighbouring Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Telangana states as well, and the port-based industries would generate a lot of employment, he pointed out.

He also alleged that the former Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu tried his best to stall the port here by notifying acquisition of 22 villages and 33,000 acres of land at the cost of farmers.

He thought people would not ask for the port due to this, Jagan observed. If there was no growth here, he thought that he could sell his benami lands in Amaravati like hot cakes, he added.

The Chief Minister disclosed that an action plan was being implemented to set up port-based industries on 4,000 acres of government lands and the place would be totally transformed in 24 months. A fishing harbour was also being set up at a cost of Rs 420 crore here, he said.