Knowledge park to come up in Vizag
The government recently sought proposals on development of 10 acres for building industries enablement centre, Sentinel Towers on the lines of Millennium Tower to make it a Signature Tower of Visakhapatnam, the proposed executive capital of AP
image for illustrative purpose
Visakhapatnam: Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (APIIC) will develop a knowledge park in an area sprawling over 300 acres here close to the IT hub at Madhurawada.
The ambitious big ticket project brightens the hope that the big ticket project will give a shot in the arm to efforts to promote Brand Vizag. A senior official of APIIC told Bizz Buzz on Friday that as part of the project, the data park and business centre proposed by Adani Enterprises Ltd, an integrated centre of asset management company Franklin Templeton and an industries enablement centre, Sentinel Towers and a guesthouse to accommodate top officials and guests will come up in the area.
The site chosen for the ambitious project is on Hill No 4 of Madhurawada here. More investments are likely in the area in the coming days. The project site is located opposite Panorama Hills, a high-end gated community and close to IT Special Economic Zone and Rama Naidu Film City and the panoramic Visakhapatnam-Bheemili beach road.
The government recently sought proposals on development of 10 acres for building industries enablement centre, Sentinel Towers on the lines of Millennium Tower to make it a Signature Tower of Visakhapatnam, the proposed executive capital of AP.
Incidentally, both Adani's data park project and a development centre by Franklin Templeton with promise to provide job opportunities for financial and analytics professionals had hit a roadblock after the YSRCP Government was formed in 2019. The stones for both the projects were laid in 2018 when TDP was in power.
However, after protracted negotiations, the Adani Group was allotted 130 acres downsizing their investment plan with an outlay of Rs 70,000 crore in phases. Now as per the latest plan, they will invest Rs 14,634 crore for developing integrated data centre park, integrated IT/business park, recreation centre and a 200-MW solar power plant to meet its requirement.
On the other hand, Industries Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy held several rounds of discussions with the top brass of Franklin Templeton. While the TDP Government earlier allotted 40 acres of developed land at Rs 32.5 acres per acre, now YSRCP Government is giving 25 acres at about Rs 1 crore per acre, reliable sources said.
An employee of an IT firm said the projects once established should give scope to flourishing plug and play operators, mostly small and medium investors with ample scope for employment opportunities to local youth.
