Next swearing-in event for CM to be in Vizag, Jagan says on poll-eve

Visakhapatnam: Confident of a victory in the forthcoming Assembly elections, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy said here on Tuesday that he would hold the next government’s swearing in ceremony in Visakhapatnam.

“After the elections, my swearing in ceremony as the Chief Minister would take place in Visakhapatnam and I will sit and function from here in that capacity. We will prevail, we will survive and we will bounce back,” he said.

The Chief Minister was speaking at the ‘AP Development Dialogue-Unveiling of Vision Visakha’ in the presence of a swarm of 2,000 delegates.

Visakhapatnam, he said, “is a growth engine that would hasten the overall development of AP.” He justified the need to make Visakhapatnam the executive capital instead of far-flung Amaravati. “According to the opposition (TD) party’s estimate, 50,000 acres of barren land was available in Amaravati. Each acre needed an expenditure of Rs 2 crore for developing the basic infrastructure like roads, water supply and electricity. Much less is needed to turn Visakhapatnam into the executive capital,” he said.

“I am not against Amaravati. It would continue to be the legislative capital,” Jagan Mohan Reddy said and reiterated his government's commitment to prioritising areas like agriculture, coastal port development and employment generation, with a surge in job opportunities.

He pledged to steer the city’s development further, with a focus on bolstering small and medium-scale industries and enhancing self-employment opportunities.

Additionally, he announced the waiver of loans pending against self-help groups and claimed that “Vizag's infrastructure facilities are superior compared to Bengaluru.”

Highlighting the ongoing infrastructure projects like the capital city works while strengthening Visakhapatnam's pivotal role as an economic powerhouse, Jagan Mohan Reddy said the Adani Data Centre that’s currently coming up would facilitate the laying of a submarine cable network linking the city with Singapore. Some 7-star hotels and resorts by Oberoi and May Fair groups and NTPC’s Green Hydrogen projects would contribute to the growth of the city, he said.

The government, he said, has also been trying to have a balanced growth of manufacturing and services sectors to ensure decentralised growth for AP, he said.

Highlighting the ongoing infrastructure projects like the Visakhapatnam stadium and improved connectivity to the Bhogapuram airport through a six lane road, the Chief Minister said Visakhapatnam be a transformative hub driving economic growth.