Naidu orders micro-level plans for Visakhapatnam economic region

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu used a review meeting at the Secretariat in Amaravati to order officials to draw up micro-level development plans for the Visakhapatnam Economic Region, insisting the strategy cover every district and sector in the zone and match what local communities want, The Hindu reported. Officials told him the zone could pull in close to nine and a half lakh crore rupees, split between roughly 5.3 lakh crore from private investors and 3.5 to 4 lakh crore in government spending, pointing to anchor projects such as a Google data centre and an ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel plant alongside the Bay City project.

Naidu wants the plans to respect coastal regulation zone rules, link four airports and three ports, run an economic corridor from Mulapeta Port to the Akhanda Godavari belt, cover all six urban development authorities in the zone, and draw on Viability Gap Funding. He also proposed a dedicated executive committee and asked that Andhra University help draft the blueprint.