By IANS,
Chennai : Andhra Pradesh has been able to acquire 22,000 acres of land from people “through a peaceful process” for special economic zones (SEZs), a senior minister of the state said here Wednesday.
“Andhra Pradesh does not have any Nandigrams,” J. Geeta reddy, minister for major industries, sugar, commerce and export promotion, told mediapersons here.
He added that tracts of land for SEZs were being acquired “through consultations”.
The minister was speaking here on the occasion of the formal announcement of the setting up of a multi-product economic park – Sri City – on the Andhra Pradesh-Tamil Nadu border, 65 km north of Chennai.
“The state is pitching for a coastal corridor of about 603 sq km along the coast of Visakhapatnam, Kakinada and Rajahmundri” to set up an SEZ for petroleum, chemicals and petrochemicals investment region (a PCPIR), the minister said.
It has also sought upgradation of the Visakhapatnam airport to international status and sought five more domestic airports in Andhra Pradesh.
The Congress government in Andhra Pradesh has drawn investment worth Rs. 170 billion in the four years of its rule, the minister said, noting that Rs. 380 billion more was in the pipeline.
Sri City chairman and managing director Ravindra Sannareddy said the project would be on 5,000 acres of land, with the SEZ area of about 3,800 acres and 1,200 acres will have domestic tariff.
The Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) is the major partner in the project.
The Sri City SEZ will also have hotels and shopping malls, for construction of which separate special purpose vehicles will be set up.
“Initial investment will be of about Rs.1,000 crore (Rs.10 billion). The project is expected to be completed in five years,” the official said, adding that 300 companies would be housed in this SEZ.
The companies would be from the auto components, IT, BPO, electronics manufacturing and light engineering sectors.
They SEZ will offer ready built factories and developed plots with build-to-suit option too, he said.
The ground-breaking ceremony for the project will take place Aug 8 near Tada village.