Union ports, shipping and waterways minister Sarbananda Sonowal has announced that the Centre will spend nearly ₹80,000 crore in Andhra Pradesh under Sagarmala Pariyojana to develop port-related infrastructure.
He said that the Centre has given green signal for 110 projects with a financial outlay of 1.1 lakh crore for Andhra Pradesh from which 80,000 crore would be spent on 80 projects in the next few years.
Addressing industry honchos at the Global Investors Summit (GIS) here on Saturday, Sonowal said that AP has become a key player in the country’s development, thanks to its long coast and presence of several ports. He said the Centre has initiated several projects for complete modernisation of infrastructure connecting ports, and harbours under Sagarmala Pariyojana in Andhra Pradesh.
“We have identified 110 projects at a cost of 1.1 lakh crore. Of this, we have already completed nearly 35 projects by spending 32,000 crore. We are ready with the action plan to initiate works on the remaining projects which would benefit AP. The Centre is going to spend close to 80,000 crore on new infrastructure,” said Sonowal.
The minister said the Centre granted 1,500 crore to develop five fishing harbours and 740 crore to take up another five projects for modernisation of existing harbours. He also announced that the Centre has granted nearly 2,000 crore to Visakhapatnam port trust to take up different projects. He said they have granted six projects for Visakhapatnam port with an investment of 658 crore.
