Chandrababu seeks Japanese aid to build AP capital

To attract investments to the state, AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu on Monday met heads of Japanese financial institutions, companies and industries in Tokyo.

Senior vice-president of JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency), Mr Domichi Hidaeki informed Chandrababu that they would like to participate in the capital consultancy bid, power project financing of the Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor (CBIC) and Krishnapatnam Industrial Park.

The Chief Minister questioned Mr Hidaeki over the action plan to be prepared by JICA for the next 15 years. The JICA Chief responded that he would discuss it with senior officials and the government and said that many companies are eying AP for investments due to the good governance. Mr Hidaeki said that Japan had committed $35 billion of investments during the last summit meeting between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Shinzo Abe with a good part of this likely to go to AP.

Mr Koichi Yajima, Executive MD of Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC), informed Chandrababu that SoftBank is preparing to invest in solar power in AP. Meanwhile, the Sumitomo Corporation informed the AP delegation that the Bhavanapadu power project — a 1,000-MW project at Polaki in Srikakulam district feasibility study and preliminary report was ready.

President of Yokohama Port, Mr Masayuki Takashima, told the CM that a master plan is said to be prepared for collaboration between Yokohama Port and AP ports similar to Kakinada, Krishnapatnam and Visakhapatnam ports. For the smart grid project, Fuji Electric’s representative director Mr Yoshio Okuno informed the CM that a site has been identified in Vijaywada.

Mr Yasuhiko Kitagawa, Senior vice-president of Mitsubishi Corporation assured that they were setting up a Japan Information and Study Centre at Andhra University to promote Japanese language courses and introduce locals to the Japanese culture.