Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal underlines Centre’s support to Andhra Pradesh

Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal underlines the continued support extended by Centre for the development of infrastructure projects in Andhra Pradesh

Visakhapatnam: Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, and AYUSH, Sarbananda Sonowal has underlined the continued support extended by the Centre for the development of infrastructure projects in Andhra.

Addressing the valedictory meeting of the Global Investors’ Summit 2023 here on Saturday, he said that under the Prime Minister’s initiative of Sagarmala, more than 110 projects worth around Rs 1.1 lakh crore have been identified for implementation in the state of Andhra Pradesh of which 35 projects of Rs 32,000 crores had already been completed. “And for the upliftment of the fishermen community, five fishing harbour projects worth Rs 1,500 crore have been sanctioned for funding under the Sagar mala program. The PM Gati Shakti plan has not only accelerated the pace of infrastructure but has also reduced the cost of projects. The multimodal transport system is the future of logistic. AP and its coastal region will move ahead in this race for development with new momentum,” he stated.

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Union Minister of Culture, Tourism, and Development of North Eastern Region, G. Kishen Reddy noted that Andhra Pradesh AP has a competitive advantage in sectors such as marine products and shrimps, drugs and pharmaceuticals, electronics, petroleum, engineering goods, etc. There is a clear opportunity for the state and Centre to work together in taking AP to new highs, he felt.

“Our railway budget allocation for AP has increased 9 times from Rs 886 crore in 2014 to Rs 8,406 crore now. We will be building 72 world-class railway stations in Andhra. AP is the only state to have 3 industrial corridors passing through the state,” he said.

Also, the total investment cost for Visakhapatnam smart city is Rs 3,000 crore and as far as Visakhapatnam port is concerned, it had shown a healthy cargo growth of over 7.5 per cent in this financial year, he observed.