Govt committed to make Andhra Pradesh prosperous, modern: PM Modi

Visakhapatnam, Jan 8: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that the NDA government is committed to developing Andhra Pradesh into a prosperous and modern state.

Assuring all help to Andhra Pradesh in achieving its goal of becoming about $2.5 trillion economy by 2047, he said the Centre was giving top priority to the state in schemes of lakhs of crores.

He was addressing a public meeting in this port city after launching projects worth over Rs 2 lakh crore in Andhra Pradesh.

The public meeting was also addressed by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan and State IT Minister Nara Lokesh.

Describing Andhra Pradesh as a state of opportunities and possibilities, the Prime Minister said that "Andhra Pradesh’s development is their vision and serving the people of Andhra is their commitment".

"The Centre is walking side by side with Andhra Pradesh to achieve the goal of 2.5 trillion dollar economy set under Swarnandhra@2047 vision,” he said.

He hoped that the projects launched today would take development of Andhra Pradesh to greater heights and lay the foundation for making the state $2.5 trillion economy.

"Because of its innovative nature, Andhra Pradesh is a major hub of IT and technology. It’s now time Andhra become centre of new futuristic technologies. We should take lead in technologies which are under development. One such emerging field is green hydrogen," said the Prime Minister who laid the foundation for green hydrogen hub which involves an investment of Rs 1.85 lakh crore.

He mentioned that National Green Hydrogen Mission launched in 2023 has the target 5 million tonne green hydrogen production by 2030.

Initially, two green hydrogen hubs will be developed and one of them is coming up in Visakhapatnam.

“In future, Visakhapatnam will be one of the few cities in the world to have green hydrogen facility on such a large scale. This hub will create job opportunities and develop manufacturing eco-system.” PM Modi, who also laid foundation for bulk drug park, said that Andhra Pradesh is among three states where such parks are being established.

He hoped that this would provide best infrastructure to boost manufacturing and research to attract investments and benefit pharma companies. Stating that the government sees urbanisation as an opportunity, he said they want to make Andhra Pradesh an example of new-age urbanisation.

As part of this foundation has been laid for Krishnapatnam Industrial Area (KRIS City) in Tirupati district under the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor.

This smart city, he said, would attract investment of thousands of crores and create lakhs of industrial jobs.

He noted that Andhra Pradesh is already known for Sri City. He exuded confidence that Andhra Pradesh would become one of the top states in manufacturing and industrial production.

The Prime Minister said the government launched PLI scheme to promote manufacturing and noted that India has already joined the list of top countries in mobile manufacturing.

PM Modi, who laid foundation stone for South Coast Railway zone headquarters, said this would be key for the state's development. He hoped that this would help expand agriculture and trade-related activities in the region and boost tourism and the local economy with new opportunities.

Referring to the launch of railway connectivity projects worth thousands of crores, he mentioned that Andhra Pradesh is among the states with 100 per cent electrification.

Over 70 railway stations in the state are being developed under Amrit Bharat stations scheme, while for ease of travel, seven Vande Bharat trains and Amrit Bharat Train are running in the state.

The Prime Minister said this infrastructure revolution, better connectivity and facilities would change the state's landscape and improve ease of doing business and ease of living.

Stating that Visakhapatnam and Andhra Pradesh coast had been gateway of India's trade for hundreds of years, he said the port city still has the same importance.

"To tap opportunities linked to sea, blue economy is being promoted in a mission mode. As part of this, Visakhapatnam fishing harbour being modernised,” he added.