AP Sets Stage For Rs 4.9-Trn Worth Ventures

Visakhapatnam: Andhra Pradesh Government is gearing up for kick-starting several big-ticket projects envisaged with an investment of Rs4.8 lakh crore in the State by inviting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 8. Sources in the government said the Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone for long-awaited the South Coast Railway (SCoR) Zone with headquarters in Visakhapatnam and the Maharatna NTPC’s green hydrogen project at Pudimadaka in Anakapalle district where the land was earlier allotted for setting up of a 4,000 MW coal-fired power plant.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has already shared on his X handle the e-tenders for finalisation of contract for construction of the SCoR headquarters on the city outskirts. The cost of construction of headquarter buildings has been put at Rs149.16 crore. The GM’s office complex will have 12 floors. The Prime Minister’s consent has already been sought for kick-starting work on Bulk Drug Park near Nakkapalli in the same district, for which the Centre has pledged the grant of Rs1,000 crore for creating the required infrastructure.

The green hydrogen project is a joint venture of newly floated NTPC Green Energy Ltd (NGEL) and New & Renewable Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Ltd (NREDCAP). The project is believed to be the largest green energy project in India in an area of 1,600 acres in phases with an estimated investment of Rs1.85 lakh crore aimed at producing 1,500 tonne of green hydrogen per day.

Earlier, the Prime Minister’s tentative programme to visit Visakhapatnam to launch these projects on November 29 last year was cancelled due to forecast of a cyclone.

Sources said now the CMO is trying to include the ArcelorMittal-Nippon Steel India (AM/NS India) joint venture to establish an integrated steel plant near Rajayyapeta in Anakapalle district with a captive port at an estimated cost of Rs1.35 lakh crore, BPCL’s mega refinery and petrochemical project at Ramayapatnam in Nellore district in the Prime Minister’s itinerary for kickstarting work. It is not confirmed whether grounding work on these projects will become part of the itinerary as EIA study is yet to be conducted for these projects.

Both railway zone and oil refinery and petrochemical complex were part of the promises made to Andhra Pradesh at the time of bifurcation in 2014. Though the Prime Minister had promised the formation of the zone in the run-up to the 2019 general elections, its execution was delayed due to various reasons.