Based on the concept of inclusive lifestyle and industrial solution, Jakkampudi Economic Township, one of the 100 Economic Cities proposed for Andhra Pradesh aims to bring together housing, employment, social amenities, manufacturing and integrated logistics into one space
Post-bifurcation, Andhra Pradesh government has initiated numerous projects to attract investment in the newly formed state, and one of its ambitious projects is Jakkampudi Economic Township. The project also known as JET City is based on the concept of ‘Walk to Work’. The township has been designed in a way to provide housing, education, employment and other social amenities at one place. And one of the thrust areas in the project is to change the conventional way of manufacturing, storage and distribution.
Project Background
The state government in January 2017 issued an order for the formation of a special purpose vehicle for development of JET City projects. There are plans to develop 100 Economic Cities and 265 acres of land has been identified in the first phase Jakkampudi for development of the first Economic City. The project location is near Vijayawada and close to Amravathi with rail, road and air connectivity. Some of the existing major industries in the vicinity are Lanco Power at Kondapalli and NTPS at Ibrahimpatnam. Apart from 20,000 units of living space, JET City has two story retail and community centre in three levels, and six story industrial workspace. The city will provide integrated lifestyle solutions such as healthcare, education and also opportunity for asset and identity creation opening avenues in segments like education, hospital, hotel retail, recreation, and entertainment among others. JET City avails ready built space for MSME, service industry, electronic industry, logistics companies, and warehouses.
Future outlook
- Ramnath, Executive Vice Chairman, Andhra Pradesh Township & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd said, “The government has called for expression of interest for investment from various sectors including logistics. The project has received about 265 applications from various companies, and so far about 19 lakh sqft of land has been sold to various parties. The project has generated lot of interest among investors and the government has received demand for about 400 acres of land to set up units.”
Without divulging the names of interested parties, Ramnath said a major company has asked for 200 acres of land to set up operation in the JET City. In view of the demand, the project implementing authority has requested the state government to revisit the plan and increase the size of land parcel to meet the requirement. In a bid to increase the land parcel, the project implementing authority is looking to add another 200-250 acres of land that will be available for logistics sector in Amaravati. The project has also generated lot of interest for investment in warehousing space, and one of the major investors is Dubai headquartered Sharaf DG which has applied for 200 acres of space to develop its warehousing facility. JET City will have product specific clusters and in the first phase about 12 key categories have been included such as printing and packaging. About 5 lakh sqft of land will be allocated to industries run by women entrepreneurs. The vision for the project is to leverage from economies of scale. Gradually, the focus is to attract other industries like plastic, IT, engineering, electrical fan, and stainless steel-based ancillary industries.
