Andhra Pradesh Magazine English June 2016 | Page 49

Two Years of Accomplishments

T

The Chandrababu Naiu Government has enivisaged a port-led development for the
State to help accelerate industrial growth and he is firmly focussed on making AP the
logsitics hub for East Asia.

he geographical advantages
of Andhra Pradesh lend
themselves beautifully for a
Port-led development of the
state, and no one
understands this better than Chief
Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. No
wonder, he has been making every
effort to make Andhra Pradesh the
most preferred logistics hub and
India’s gateway to East and South
East Asia by 2029.
Naidu has his homework done
thoroughly. He saw what Singapore
has done in this regard. The island
nation has always been a strong
performer in the global logistics
industry, and transportation and logistics sector contributed between 7
to 9 percent to Singapore GDP in the
last decade. and the island nation
has been ranked the world's busiest
port in terms of shipping tonnage.
Given its natural advantages, AP can
dig into this resource and build a
competitive logistics hub. As a
United Nations Public
Administration Network (UNPAN)
study pointed out, “Andhra
Pradesh’s
central location within India, its
strong transportation links with
other parts of the country and the
access it provides into India make it
a suitable location for a distribution
and logistics hub”.
Andhra Pradesh has the second
longest coastline in India, covering a
length of over 974 km stretching
between Srikakulam and Nellore
with deep draft coastal waters. A
network of 14 notified non-major
ports and one major port provides
strong potential for the State to
become India's gateway to the
JUNE 2016

world, especially the Asian and
South East Asian region.
Andhra Pradesh has the unique
advantage of having three deep
draft ports – Visakhapatnam,
Gangavaram and Krishnapatnam
that is a critical enabler for
attracting bulk cargo from East and
South East Asian economies. To reap
the potential benefits and position
of Andhra Pradesh as India's
Gateway to the World, the
Government is integrating the
development of ports, industrial
clusters and, hinterland and
efficient evacuation systems
through road, rail, inland and
coastal waterways under the
Sagarmala Project of the
Government of India.
The Government has also
encouraged private participation for
port development. Currently there
are six ports in the State that are
operational and several others
under various stages of
development.

Cargo Movement

In 2013-14, the ports in Andhra
Pradesh handled over 12.25%
(117MT) of the total cargo moved
through sea in India.
Vishakhapatnam Port accounted for
59 MT, while the non-major ports
accounted for over 58.94 MT of the
total cargo movement. Andhra
Pradesh is the second largest
handler of cargo through non major
ports in the country and
Vishakhapatnam Port is the fourth
largest major port in the country in
terms of cargo handled. The current
capacity of the operational ports in
the state is over 180 MT with traffic

ANDHRAPRADESHMAGAZINE.ORG

of around 120 MT.
The state government has its task
cut out for providing thrust to the
sector. Visakhapatnam-Chennai and
Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial
Corridors would provide better
connectivity for faster evacuation of
cargo. A parallel beach road from
Ichhapuram to Tada, Sagar Mala
first phase covering Visakhapatnam
to Kakinada, constitution of AP
Maritime Board and promoting
Brand Andhra Pradesh by
encouraging second generation
infrastructure firms like GVK and
GMR would remain on top of
agenda, the Chief Minister disclosed.
The Chandrababu Naidu
government has targeted that by
2023:

w Ports to handle cargo throughput
of over 1000 MT a year
w 16 ports to be operational
(6 currently operational, 7 under
development, 3 identified)

w Andhra Pradesh to develop into a
hub for ship building and repairs
Endowed with a strong industrial
base, coupled with natural
endowments of mineral reserves
the potential for a port led
development is certain.
The A.P. Port Policy 2015 targetted
to achieve 15 per cent share in cargo
handling by 2019 and 25 per cent
by 2025.
Andhra Pradesh will soon have a
dedicated Maritime Board
governing the integrated planning,
development and monitoring of all
ports including concessions to
stakeholders.

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