VIJAYAWADA: Revenue Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao has urged Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to initiate steps to set up a financial hub in Visakhapatnam.
Explaining the reasons as to why Visakhapatnam should be made a financial hub, Dharmana said after bifurcation of the State, Visakhapatnam has become the single largest cosmopolitan city in AP.
"Many public sector undertakings and private companies are operating from Visakhapatnam. “There is a need to support the industry and in order to boost the growth of the North Andhra region, more initiatives should be taken,” the Revenue Minister stressed.
Dharmana underlined the need for allotment of 100 acres of land for setting up the financial hub with Regional Office of Reserve Bank of India, zonal headquarters of all scheduled banks and other lead banks and financial institutions, financial services firms, law firms, and the Registrar of Companies office.
He also urged the State government to request the Union Ministry of Finance to set up the RBI regional headquarters in Vizag. Further, he sought the establishment of the office of RoC in Visakhapatnam as the majority of companies and company secretaries and Chartered Accountant firms are located in Uttarandhra region.
He also wanted the establishment of Corporate Social Responsibility Authority under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister so that all the CSR funds of corporations/companies are given to the authority and the Chief Minister will disburse the funds on the lines of the CM’s Relief Fund.
“All corporates in AP can generate about Rs 1,000 crore per annum as CSR funds,’’ he felt.
The request from the Revenue Minister has come amid the State government’s proposal to locate executive capital in Visakhapatnam. The government has laid emphasis on development of Visakhapatnam on all fronts, particularly in IT and industrial sectors.
The Chief Minister is likely to function from Visakhapatnam in the coming days. The Chief Minister’s Camp Office is likely to be shifted to Visakhapatnam from Tadepalli.