Modi's Vision for the Future of Andhra Pradesh
This computer generated image of the capital of Andhra Pradesh demonstrates how the city landscape was planned on sustainable development principles, with extensive, open green spaces, to add value to the urban ecosystem. Photo: The Indian Express
During a public meeting at the Andhra University Engineering College, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi announced on Nov. 12 that approximately $1,334,335 USD will be set aside for five infrastructure projects. Such urbanization is predicted to stimulate large economic growth and improve the productivity of labor within the region.
The development of the Srikakulam Angul Natural Gas Pipeline is one of the projects that will begin construction later this year. Modi dedicated $362,340 USD towards the implementation of an onshore deep water block project, which will be installed through the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) in Andhra Pradesh.
Andhra Pradesh’s Governor, Biswa Bhusan Harichandan, and other government officials predict that this may be India’s deepest gas discovery project, with a potential of approximately 3 million metric standard cubic meters per day out for 745 kilometers.
This pipeline will serve as vital infrastructure to supply natural gas to domestic households, industries, commercial units, and automobile sectors in the various districts that make up Andhra Pradesh. The pipeline will contribute to the Natural Gas Grind (NGG) and thus, will distribute natural gas through a network of cities in the Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts of Andhra Pradesh.
Simultaneously, Modi stated his plans for constructing a six-lane Greenfield Raipur-Visakhapatnam Economic Corridor, which is expected to provide faster connectivity between rural and urban areas of the region. This project is slated to be complete by Oct. 24 and is expected to expand into a 10-lane Economic Corridor, consisting of integrated networks of infrastructure within Andhra Pradesh, designed to stimulate economic development.
Fishing Harbour in Visakhapatnam is expected to expand by 2025, increasing both exports and imports into the city. Photo: Pintrest
As infrastructural development within the inlands of Andhra Pradesh are being set up to urbanize the landscape and stimulate economic growth, Modi has also recently declared that after years of postponing, the Visakhapatnam Fishing Harbour will also be regentrified, thus doubling the capacity of exports and imports by the port from 150 to 300 tonnes per day.
Such infrastructural development plans for Andhra Pradesh will facilitate supply chain logistics that depend on multi-modal methods, thus stimulating social, political, and economic growth. As a means of urbanizing and developing Andhra Pradesh as a whole, Modi set aside a generous budget so that every sector is “not leaving anyone out of the development plan,” he said.
Modi noted that for the first time in India, the Blue Economy is being given priority. Especially in terms of developing the Fishing Harbour in Visakhapatnam, large revenues and profits will empower the fishing community and provide more people a means of providing sustenance for themselves and their families.
Through these vast urban development plans for Andhra Pradesh, Modi hopes that India can become the “center of hope,” especially as the effects of the global climate crisis have exacerbated large flooding damages to many South Asian countries neighboring India.
The government strives to use the projects as a journey to development, with the aim of developing regions of India which were previously marginalized into modern day business hubs. Especially given the fact that individuals from Andhra Pradesh highly value education and seek to progress as a society, such infrastructural projects could be the resources they need to get their foot through the door and begin contributing towards India’s rapidly advancing economy.