Venkaiah Naidu reviews progress of ongoing projects in state

Nellore: Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu reviewed the progress of various ongoing projects and new initiatives pertaining to Smart City Project of Nellore and other development projects of AP in the presence of Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog, and concerned officials of both State and Central governments at Nellore on Friday.

Officials gave a presentation to the Union Minister on development of Nellore tank, construction of an island in the tank and installation of the statue of Amarajeevi Potti Sreeramulu on it. A bird nesting island and strengthening of tank bund are also included in the plan. The Union Minister suggested that the three canals in Nellore town namely Jafar Saheb Canal, Sarvepalli Canal and others need to be beautified and encroachments removed.

Highlights:

• Suggests building an iconic gateway to Nellore near NHAI office at Bujabuja Nellore on NH-16
• The gateway should reflect the culture of the region
• The Union Minister witnesses presentations on Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC) and Bengaluru-Chennai Industrial Corridor (BCIC)
• NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant also takes part in the meeting

He also suggested that work on Buckingham Canal needs to be speeded up. Presentations were also made on demolishing the present APSRTC bus stand and erecting a new structure in the next two years. The new bus stand will house commercial establishments, offices and multiplex and would generate internal revenues. A presentation was also made on the development of Nellore Railway station.

Reviewing the work of NH 16, Venkaiah Naidu suggested building an iconic gateway to Nellore near NHAI office at Bujabuja Nellore. He suggested that the gateway should reflect the culture of the region and while building the structure, issues pertaining to commuters’ safety should also be taken into consideration.

A presentation was made on Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC) and Bengaluru-Chennai Industrial Corridor (BCIC) by Solomon Arokia Raj ,Secretary, Industries Department, State government,.

VCIC would have four development nodes and BCIC would have two development nodes. Responding to the presentation on industrial corridors NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said that the Krishnapatnam-Nellore zone would be the best region for driving economic growth of AP and India.

"People here have passion and commitment for manufacturing and enterprise. We at NITI Aayog are fully aware of the potential of this area. We have to plan big and large. The strength of Krishnapatnam Port to import and export should be linked to the manufacturing hinterland and to the nearby National highway,” he said.

Referring to NH-16, Venkaiah Naidu said that work on the stretch of the highway near Manubolu which was washed away during the floods of Nov 15 needs to be expedited.

Presentations were also made on Sagarmala Project for development of ports. Another presentation was given on supply of Liquefied Natural gas (LNG) through pipelines in AP.

The Union Minister told the officials present that three years of the government have already elapsed and now it is the time to implement the planned projects and show results to the people.

Municipal Administration Minister P Narayana and Agriculture Minister Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy were also present at the meeting.Amitabh inaugurates AFH System in Krishnapatnam Port: NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said that technological improvement in warehouses would bring development in port related activity and reduce the logistic service.

He visited Krishnapatnam Port and inaugurated Automated Fertiliser Handling system on Friday. Amitabh Kant planted saplings at the KPCL administrative office. Speaking on the occasion, the NITI Aayog CEO said that Krishnapatnam Port would reduce the logistic cost by sending the commodities directly to the consumers after packing them in warehouse.

“It is a very unique development and technological improvement adopted by the Krishnapatnam Port which would speed up imports and exports. All other ports in the country should upgrade their technology in handling goods for economical operations and also for quality and accuracy,” said Amitabh.

He also explained that development of the port would generate employment, provides better infrastructure in the region. Chennai-Visakhapatnam industrial corridor would bring best infrastructure in the country and AP would also develop consequently, he added. He also lauded the services of Krishnapatnam Port for providing better services to the consumers with latest technologies.