CM Naidu to Plan AP as East Coast Cargo Corridor

Vijayawada: Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has mooted the idea of developing Andhra Pradesh as the east coast cargo corridor by integrating cargo-handling from the several ports in the state.

Naidu on Monday held a review meeting on ports and fishing harbours with the senior officials at the Secretariat here. He directed the officials to expedite commencement of cargo handling operations at Mulapeta, Machilipatnam and Ramayapatnam ports. “We would thus be able to facilitate transport of cargo through the hinterland of neighbouring states like Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana and Karnataka.

The officials informed the CM that development of the Machilipatnam and Ramayapatnam ports would be completed by the end of 2026.

The CM opined that once the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd would set up its refinery, it would help develop Ramayapatnam port as a container and cargo port. He said the Indian Railways had given the nod to lay a special railway line connecting Ramapayapatnam to the Kadapa Steel Plant.

Referring to the development of the three ports, Naidu said developing port townships near them would help improve commercial transactions in addition to having a scope for developing industrial corridors near them.

He called for development of fishing harbours at Budigatlapalem, Pudimadaka and Kothapetnam in an expeditious manner.

Maintaining that they were planning to develop a port and a fishing harbour for every 50km distance in the state in the near future, Naidu visualised that AP would become an east coast logistics hub and the cargo handling from AP ports would be a game-changer.

On the war in the Middle East, he said the ports in Dubai and elsewhere in the Gulf nations were facing trouble. Ports in the east coast of India were safe, he noted, and underscored the need to grab such an opportunity to develop the ports in AP.