Rajahmundry/Kakinada: Minister for municipal administration P Narayana has said that the state government is scouting for sites to set up various institutions in Andhra Pradesh. The Union government has sanctioned 11 national-level institutions to the state and asked the state government to inform it about the land availability.
He told newsmen at Rajahmundry and Kakinada Tuesday that on the directions of chief minister Chandrababu Naidu, he had visited along with the MLAs some places in Kakinada and Rajahmundry.
Directions were issued to the collector to send a report on the land availability by Wednesday evening. The report would be submitted to the Sivaramakrishnan Committee Thursday, the minister said.
The Central government advised the state government to shortlist two or three sites for each institution. A Central committee will finalise the sites.
A petro university was sanctioned to East Godavari district and an agricultural or a Central university would be set up in West Godavari district, Narayana said. Directorates and commissionerates would be set up in the districts with their main offices located in the capital.
The CM is trying for a central location in the state for the capital. The population from Anantapur to Prakasam districts is 2.15 crore and it is 2.68 crore from Guntur to Srikakulam. Likewise, the distance between Srikakulam and Guntur is 660 km and it is 620 km from Anatapur to Guntur, the minister said.
About 25,000 acres of land for the capital is needed, keeping future needs in view. The Chhattisgarh and Gujarat governments constructed capitals in New Raipur and Gandhi Nagar using only 4,000 acres each though 25,000 acres of land was acquired by the governments.
The Union government had allocated `50,000 crore for urban development in the country.
The state government will conduct awareness meetings to mayors, municipal chairpersons and corporators on August 4 in Visakhapatnam, on August 5 in Vijayawada and on August 6 in Tirupati in this regard.
Mayor Pantham Rajani Sesha Sai, deputy mayor Vasireddy Rambabu, commissioner V Ravindra Babu and revenue divisional officer V Nanraj were present.
Earlier, P Narayana visited forest land near Diwanchervu near Rajahmundry and Chollangi village of Tallarevu mandal near Kakinada Later, Narayana inaugurated additional rooms in the Roads and Buildings guest house in Kakinada. The minister said that the GMR group evinced interest to set up a captive port in Kakinada whereas the chief minister suggested to them to construct a commercial port.