VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday directed officials to prepare an action plan for the development of the Visakha Economic Region (VER), covering the area from Srikakulam to Konaseema districts.
Accordingly, necessary policies should be formulated to attract investments in the Visakha Economic Region.
The CM conducted a review meeting at the State Secretariat on the VER to make it a growth hub for the State. He said priority should be given to improving cargo handling from Mulapet Port in Srikakulam district to Kakinada Port, as the ports serve as cargo handling centres for Odisha, Chhattisgarh, MP, and Maharashtra.
He said the coastline should be developed as an East-West Coastal Corridor.
Naidu said more focus should be laid on developing green energy projects in the economic region, as Visakhapatnam is set to emerge as a global IT hub with the establishment of the Next Gen AI Data Centre by Google.
Vizag should be developed as a health-care hub, says CM
He said Visakhapatnam should also be developed as a healthcare hub, and steps should be taken to meet the growing demand for housing projects.
Observing that the Visakha Economic Region is likely to attract investments to the tune of $100 billion to 115 billion, including $15 billion from Central government sectors and $85 billion from the private sector, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said the ports in the Visakha Economic Region (VER) would be linked with railway lines. He added that the Central government is planning to expand the railway network to four lines in the region.
Meanwhile, the officials have made an appeal for setting up the Visakha Economic Region Authority (VERA) under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister.