Naidu to lead Vizag Economic Region Board in a major east-coast push
Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh has created a three-tier Regional Planning Board to steer the rollout of the Visakhapatnam Economic Region (VER), the State’s most ambitious economic transformation programme on the eastern seaboard. The newly constituted Regional Planning Board will be chaired by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, with the chief secretary heading the Executive Committee and the CEO of VER leading the implementation layer.
Government orders issued on Friday formalised the constitution of a Steering Committee, Executive Committee and Implementation Committee to drive coordinated execution of the VER master plan.
The move forms part of the Swarna Andhra 2047 strategy, aligned with the Centre’s Viksit Bharat 2047 vision. The state is targeting sustained annual growth above 15 per cent to become a $2.4 trillion economy with a projected per capita income of $42,000 by 2047.
To operationalise the plan, Andhra Pradesh has already set up Vision Action Plan Units across all districts and constituencies to track key performance indicators (KPIs), ensure data consistency and embed long-horizon planning into daily governance.
VER is the first of three regional economic plans, followed by Tirupati and Amaravati, developed with support from NITI Aayog. Launched on November 13, 2025, the plan covers nine districts from Visakhapatnam to Konaseema, forming a 300-km coastal growth corridor. The region is projected to become a $125–135 billion economy by 2032, driven by manufacturing, IT, agriculture, tourism, healthcare, urbanisation and large-scale infrastructure build-out. The government expects $60–70 billion in incremental GVA and 2–2.4 million new jobs over the period.
The committees bring together senior state officials, district collectors, municipal commissioners and representatives from Railways, NHAI, ports, Visakhapatnam SEZ and NITI Aayog. A dedicated Programme Management Unit under the Planning Department will support the CEO, coordinating departments and ensuring time-bound execution across sectors. The structure aims to provide a single command framework for planning, investment mobilisation and projectmonitoring across the coastal economic zone.
