East Godavari: Aqua, agri units galore

Kakinada: PLANS are afoot to promote various industries in East Godavari district using available resources.There is huge potential to establish industries in various trades like mining, agriculture, sago, horticulture, and ceramics among others.The district has good transportation facilities, besides two main ports for exports and imports and availability of rich water resources.

The district administration has drawn an action plan for new entrepreneurs and also to address their problems and issues to develop their industrial units. Large and mega industries in the district are prominently set up in the sectors of fertilisers, edible oil refining, oil and gas exploration, cargo handling, rice milling, writing paper and craft paper, food and agro processing, ceramics and power generation.

B Srinivasa Rao, the District Industries Centre (DIC) General Manager told Bizz Buzz that the State government has decided to formulate a fresh Food Processing Policy keeping in view the advantages of Andhra Pradesh,such as conducive agro climatic conditions, diverse raw material base, excellent infrastructure, large land bank and availability of abundant skilled workforce.

It has accorded top priority to industrial growth as a means to mitigate poverty and unemployment, he said, and added that another 10,000 acres of land bank/UDL available with APIIC to develop specific sector-based and cluster-based industrial parks and MSME parks. He said that there are 65mega and largeIndustries established with an investment of Rs17,715 crore that employed 31, 663 people.

He said that YSR Jagananna Badugu Vikasam, a special industrial incentives package for entrepreneurs belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes including women who intend to set up manufacturing, service-based enterprises, is of immense support for new entrepreneurs.

He said Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), a credit linked Central government scheme was in force in the district to generate continuous and sustainable employment opportunities through setting up of micro enterprises. Detailing further, Srinivasa Rao said, "The maximum project cost under the scheme is Rs 25 lakh in manufacturing sector and Rs 10 lakh in the service sector.

Giving a break-up of the different industries, he said "More than 100 rice mills are operating in the district with Sortex facilities due to which exportability of rice and related products increased. Threelarge scale sugar factories are operating in the district."

The considerable increase in the area of sugar cane production is expected in upland areas of the district due to Polavaram Project. As many as 10 shrimp processing plants in a large scale category are operating in the district.

Long coastline

Aquaculture is being carried out along the 161 kmcoastline of the district, covering about 13 mandals. Alarge extent of coconut plantation exists in Konaseema that covers 16 mandals.There is a lot of potential for exporting the coir fibre and coir

pith. At present coir units are extracting the coir fibre and coir pith and supplying to exporters. These products are being exported to the international market.

Forest produce, cashew nut plantation and natural rubber plantation in the tribal areas of the district comprising 11 mandals opens up new export opportunities. Items that are being exported through Kakinada Anchorage Port are maize cement and non- basmati rice.

"There is anurgent need to cultivate and enhance the international entrepreneurial skill among the businessmen and the farmers in the district, apart from helping them explore international markets," the DIC GM observed.