Andhra Pradesh Cabinet Meeting Concludes… Key Decisions Announced

Amaravati, Dec 3: The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet on Tuesday gave its nod for Amaravati capital development works worth Rs 11,471 crore.

The state Cabinet, at its meeting presided by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, gave its approval for the works which were cleared by the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) on Monday.

The Cabinet gave its consent to cancelling the old tenders for these works and calling for fresh tenders.

Briefing media persons on the decisions taken by the Cabinet, Minister for Information and Public Relations, Kolusu Parthasarathi, and Minister for Municipal Administration P. Narayana said the estimated cost of the works in Amaravati has gone up steeply as the previous government completely neglected these works and that they have to be taken up afresh now.

The estimated cost for constructing 360 km long trunk roads has gone up by Rs 460 crore, Narayana said and added that the works in Amaravati include building administrative towers, an Assembly building and the High Court complex for which the tenders will be called by the end of December. The budget estimates at that time for the construction of these structures was Rs 41,000 crore which has now gone up by 30 per cent, he added.

Kolusu Parthasarathi said that the Cabinet cleared certain policies to be adopted to improve the economic condition of the State which include a policy on Andhra Pradesh Information Technology and Global Capability Centres, the AP Textile, Apparel and Garments policy and the AP Maritime policy. The IT and GCC policy has been introduced with a view to transforming the State into a global hub for the knowledge economy, Parthasarathi said.

Making it clear that the State Government is committed to the most prestigious 'One Family, One Industrialist' goal, the Minister said and stated that the Government is planning to encourage on a large scale co-working spaces and neighbouring working spaces to create basic amenities on a war footing.

This policy has been adopted to provide employment to the youth along with improving the economic condition of the State, Parthasarathi maintained. This will certainly help promote every graduate to the global level besides getting very high salaries, the Minister observed.

The Maritime policy has been formulated to develop Andhra Pradesh as the globally renowned State that has the largest coastline of 975 km long, Parthasarathi noted. Maintaining that as of now Gujarat is in the top position while Andhra Pradesh is in second and once the Maritime policy comes into effect the State will certainly acquire the top position.

Efforts are also being made to encourage the shipbuilding industry, the Minister said and added that the Chief Minister is holding discussions with the Prime Minister for establishing a mega shipyard in the State. Steps are also being taken to provide the necessary infrastructure for the shipbuilding clusters and allied projects, he added.