VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has directed the officials to develop ‘Visakha Economic Region’ as the growth engine of Andhra Pradesh, with an aim to transforming it into a USD 120 billion economic region by 2032.
He emphasised the need to develop Visakhapatnam on the lines of Mumbai in the next seven years. The Economic Region consists of eight districts including Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Srikakulam, Anakapalli, Kakinada, East Godavari, ASR, and Manyam.
The Chief Minister instructed officials to develop projects that would boost economic activity across this eight-district zone. He also ordered the identification of one lakh acres for various projects.
Spanning 36,000 sq km and home to a population of 15.5 million, the Visakha Region currently has a GDP of around $49 billion. The CM noted that the region has the potential to generate 20 to 24 lakh jobs by 2032, making it vital to the state’s future growth.
Visakhapatnam will be made a steel hub: Naidu
During a review meeting with NITI Aayog CEO B V . Subrahmanyam and officials at the State Secretariat on Friday, the Chief Minister discussed the roadmap for the Visakha Economic Region. He proposed development centered around six ports, seven manufacturing nodes, 17 major agricultural zones, six service hubs, and 12 tourism hubs.
NITI Aayog officials gave a detailed PowerPoint presentation outlining plans based on seven key growth drivers: ports, IT, agriculture, tourism, healthcare, urban development, and infrastructure. A total of 41 major projects have been prioritized. If these plans are realised within the next seven years, the region could see the construction of 7.5 lakh housing units, 10,000 hotel rooms, up to 20 innovation centres, 10 colleges, 7,000 hospital beds, industrial development across 20,000 hectares, 80 million sq. ft. of office space, and 60 million sq. ft. of warehousing capacity.
“We will develop beach roads from Mulapeta to Visakhapatnam and Visakhapatnam to Kakinada. These will be connected to national highways. The coast is a treasure trove, we must leverage it fully. Tourism is being treated as an industry, and our new policy is very investor-friendly. With future needs in mind, we will ensure continuous skill training for youth. We’re adopting ‘Work from Home’ and Knowledge Economy outsourcing models. The goal is to provide work-from-home opportunities to 20 lakh people,” said the Chief Minister.
He proposed developing Visakhapatnam as a steel hub in collaboration with the country’s top three steel companies, with a strong focus on petrochemicals, gas grids, port development, medical technology, shipbuilding, defence, electronics, clean tech, and labour-intensive manufacturing. “We aim to generate 4 to 5 lakh jobs in the IT sector over the next seven years, with an emphasis on setting up data centres and startups,” he said.
In addition to four ongoing railway projects, seven new railway lines are set to be completed by 2032. The Chief Minister said that nine new road projects would be taken up to support manufacturing nodes and ports. The Vizag Metro project, spanning 77 km, is scheduled to be completed in phases between 2028 and 2030.
“We are now introducing policies that allow people to be both producers and consumers of electricity. We’re focusing on solar, wind, hydro, battery storage, and green hydrogen. Andhra Pradesh has abundant resources to support this vision. I seek NITI Aayog’s support to realize it,” Naidu said.
An MoU was signed between the AP government, NITI Aayog, and the ISEG Foundation in the presence of the Chief Minister for the State Energy Transition Roadmap.