Changing economic landscape

- Annual capacity of the Port is 35.12 mn tonnes

- 4 berths built to handle EXIM cargo

- 1,923 acres of land acquired

- 6.5 km four-lane road connecting NH 216

- 7.5 km railway line from Pedana station to the port

- 25,000 direct & indirect jobs will be available

Machilipatnam: The first ship will land at Machilipatnam Port in the next two years ushering in rapid industrialisation in the area, Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy said here on Monday.

After laying the foundation stone for the port here at a cost of Rs 5,155.73 crore, he thanked the farmers for offering their lands to take up construction of the port and announced that the government will earmark another 4,000 acres for the industries to set up their units as part of port-led development.

The long-cherished dream of Machilipatnam Port will soon be a reality as it is expected to be completed in 24-30 months. It will create direct and indirect employment for 25,000 people of Guntur, Krishna, NTR, East and West Godavari districts. The port will have a total of four berths with an annual capacity of 35.12 million tonnes in the first phase. Two of the berths will be for general cargo, one for coal, and another, multipurpose-container traffic.

The Chief Minister said the construction of the Machilipatnam Port was a long-awaited dream of the people of Krishna district. He said that the port will change the economic landscape of the district and open up several new opportunities for investors, service sector and job-seekers. “With the construction of Machilipatnam Port, this area will become like Chennai and Mumbai. The port can be expanded to a capacity of 116 million tonnes with 16 berths in future,” declared the Chief Minister. The port is expected to increase exports of fertilizers, coal, cooking oil, container imports, agricultural products, cement, cement clinker, granite, and pig iron. Sharing details about the infrastructure boost that Andhra Pradesh has received, Reddy said “The State had six ports in the State before they formed the government. However, in the past four years our government has launched construction of four more ports at a cost of Rs16,000 crore.”

Coming down heavily on the erstwhile TDP Government for delaying the construction of the port, he said that the TDP had made false promises to the people of Krishna district and did nothing to implement them. “Overall, 75,000 people will be employed through the construction of Machilipatnam, Ramayapatnam, Kakinada Gateway and Mulapeta ports in the State,” he noted.

The Chief Minister also announced a series of major projects in Machilipatnam. He said a medical college is being established in Machilipatnam with an investment of Rs 550 crore. He also said that a fishing harbour is being constructed at a cost of Rs 420 crore and that 60 per cent of the work has already been completed. He stated that the government has distributed house plots to 31 lakh people in the State at a cost of Rs 75,000 crore adding house plots are worth at least Rs 5 lakh each and that the government has also provided Rs 3 lakh crore to the poor people under various Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) and non-DBT schemes.

“The government is committed to providing good governance without bribes and discrimination. This government has made revolutionary changes in the delivery of services to farmers, pensioners, and other citizens and the YSRCP government will continue to work for the welfare of the poor and the downtrodden,” he said.