AP Cabinet Okays Rs 31,167-Cr Projects

Visakhapatnam: Andhra Pradesh Cabinet meeting on Tuesday gave its stamp of approval to the proposals by 17 companies for a total investment of Rs31,167 crore with a commitment to create employment opportunities to 32,633 across the State.

Important among them, was the investment pending by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in Visakhapatnam. The IT major has been given a go-ahead signal for investment of Rs1,370 crore with a potential to create 12,000 jobs. The decision is expected to give a shot in the arm to transform the city into a prominent IT hub.

TCS has already signed an MoU with Dallas Tech Centre to take its premises at posh Rushikonda Hills. IT and Electronics Minister Nara Lokesh had also promised to consider the allotment of plug and play facility being developed at the Millennium Tower-B. Another key decision by the Cabinet was the allotment of 21.66 acres at Rushikonda Hill No. 3 to TCS for constructing its permanent development center.

The Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, also took another important decision to promulgate ordinance for SC categorisation- a major promise made by the NDA during the elections. Madiga Porata Parirakshana Samiti has been spearheading an agitation under the leadership of Manda Krishna Madiga for its one-point demand.

The draft ordinance has been cleared by the Cabinet. It will be promulgated soon after in-principle approval given recently by the National Commission for SCs (NCSC) so that its benefit could be extended at the time of issuing mega DSC for recruitment of teachers.

The meeting approved the issuing of Letter of Agreement to the bidders emerging as L1 for construction of Assembly building with 11.22 lakh sft at a cost of Rs617 crore, High Court building with 20.32 lakh sft at a cost of Rs786 crore. These buildings planned to be made iconic structures in the capital city of Amaravati are part of works worth Rs65,000 crore, which will be formally relaunched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 2.

All the proposals cleared by the fifth meeting of SIPB for investments in sectors such as IT, food processing and energy were approved by the Cabinet which includes the proposal by Ursa Clusters Pvt Ltd for an investment of Rs5,728 crore and a job potential for 2,500 jobs in a project in Visakhapatnam.

A government spokesman said after the coalition came to power, investments worth Rs4,71,379 crore with a promise to create jobs for 4,17,188 people have been cleared by the five meetings held by SIPB in the past 11 months.