VIJAYAWADA: Infrastructure and Investments Secretary Kona Sasidhar on Thursday directed District Collectors to fast-track land acquisition and clear administrative bottlenecks for high-priority port, airport, highway, and railway projects across the State.
The push comes even as completion targets for flagship greenfield ports appear to have slipped, with Ramayapatnam Port — originally targeted for completion by the end of this year — now rescheduled for commissioning by March 2027.
Under the updated rollout schedule presented at the 8th District Collectors’ Conference, target dates for other major maritime hubs have also been set for Mulapeta Port (May 2027), Machilipatnam Port (December 2027), and Kakinada Gateway Port (September 2028). Addressing the Collectors Conference, Sasidhar emphasised that resolving pending land transfers and legal hurdles within strict timelines is critical to positioning Andhra Pradesh as a leading economic and logistics hub.
To maintain project momentum across sectors, collectors were instructed to prioritize land acquisition and alienation for a combined total of 25,662 acres currently required across various districts for maritime and aviation infrastructure.
Alongside the greenfield ports, work is also ongoing across key fishing harbours, with target completion dates set for Juvvaladinne (December 2026), Uppada (March 2027), Nizampatnam (May 2027) and Machilipatnam (December 2027), while the Dugarajapatnam port and shipbuilding cluster has reached the Detailed Project Report (DPR) stage. In the aviation sector, the government is expanding air connectivity by advancing active airport projects in Bhogapuram, Kurnool, Tirupati, Kadapa, Vijayawada, and Rajamahendravaram, alongside proposed greenfield sites in Dagadarthi, Kuppam, Srikakulam, Nagarjuna Sagar, Amaravati, Ongole, Tadepalligudem, Tuni–Annavaram, and Anantapur.
Collectors were specifically instructed to expedite the acquisition of 670 acres required for the Puttaparthi airstrip expansion.
Furthermore, eight locations have been identified for water aerodromes—with sites at Eluru and Bapatla currently being finalized—and collectors across 18 districts were directed to identify 5-to-10-acre plots for new heliports.
On road infrastructure, the state is monitoring a massive pipeline of 1,408 km of National Highway projects valued at Rs 1,18,566 crore, including the Kharagpur–Visakhapatnam–Amaravati ORR, the Amaravati Outer Ring Road, the Hyderabad–Vijayawada (NH-65) corridor, and the Anakapalle–Diwancheruvu (NH-16) expansion.
In the State sector, sanction has been granted to repair 10,238 km of roads, alongside 78 Pushkaralu- related works and 14 pending bridges, building on the Rs 785.39 crore spent under the Mission Pothole- Free Roads initiative during 2024–25.
In the railway sector, 42 new line and multi-tracking projects covering 2,678 km at an estimated cost of Rs 46,789 crore are underway, along with 343 ROB/RUB projects valued at Rs 13,305 crore.
To clear active land backlogs stalling execution on the ground, Sasidhar instructed district administrations to urgently resolve pending acquisitions covering 1,231 hectares across 91 National Highway projects, 1,997 hectares across 37 railway lines, and 23 hectares for 13 ROB/RUB sites.
Collectors were directed to maintain continuous inter-departmental oversight.