VIJAYAWADA: Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Ravishankar Prasad, said that the Centre had released Rs 27.75 crore so far as grant-in-aid for the establishment of three electronic manufacturing clusters (EMCs) in Andhra Pradesh. The three projects are being developed in Yerpedu, Satyavedi and Renigunta mandals of Chittoor district.
In reply to a question in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday by YSRC MP Vanga Geetha, on whether the ministry had proposed an EMC in Kakinada, the minister said that three greenfield projects were approved under the EMC scheme in Chittoor district.
“These EMCs are being developed in an area of 708.67 acres with a project cost of Rs 500.96 crore including a grant-in-aid of Rs 185.29 crore from the Government of India. Till now, grant-in-aid of Rs 27.75 crore has been released for these projects. There is no EMC approved or under consideration in Kakinada,” Prasad said.
In the Rajya Sabha, to a question by TG Venkatesh, who recently joined the BJP from the TDP, on the release of special development package funds to the seven backward district in Andhra Pradesh, Minister of State of Home Affairs Nityanand Rai informed that Rs 1,050 crore had been released between 2014-15 and 2016-17. When YSRC MP Lavi Srikrishna Devaraya, asked if there was a proposal for establishment of a dedicated freight corridor between Vizag and Chennai, Railway minister Piyush Goyal replied in the negative.