The enthusiasm to show development to the population post bifurcation and the greater responsibility of achieving self sustainability are expected to put the two governments on a mission to complete the ongoing infra projects as well as launching new ones.
The overall economic slowdown, however, may play a spoilsport to some extent.
In terms of potential, the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh will have an additional advantage of water ways, in particular the longest coast – of nearly 1,000 km – compared to Telangana which may have to continue to bank on the capital city of Hyderabad.
“Our vision of rebuilding Telangana includes creating infrastructure to make agriculture and artisanship profitable in real terms and this will take care of the rural economy to a large extent. With regard to industry, the priority shall be to complete the IT Investment Region at a rapid pace, provide infrastructure that will enhance pharma industry growth without polluting environment and build at least one more airport preferably in Warangal,” says senior TRS leader T. Harish Rao.
Significantly, except for a few patches, headquarters of the nine other districts are well connected to Hyderabad through four lane road ways.
The government of the united Andhra Pradesh has already notified forming of the 290-km long Regional Ring Road, an outer layer of the existing Outer Ring Road encompassing the neighbouring districts of Ranga Reddy, Medak, Nalgonda, Warangal and Mahbubnagar.
“The real game changer will be building a rail network to all habitations in a radius of 100 km of Hyderabad,” added Harish Rao.
This will ensure that the middle class pursues employment in the capital while living in their native village. This will also result in rapid growth of newer areas other than cities which will automatically be decongested, he added.
According to N.V.S. Reddy, the managing director of Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited, Hyderabad’s growth is unlimited because there are no geological constraints.
The HMR top official, an expert in rail transport system, favoured building separate high-speed rail corridors that would improve interconnectivity among various districts of state.
There is another short term project for the new Telangana government to focus on: Expansion of the existing Metro Rail project to other thickly populated areas in the city and Cyberabad, the IT hub of Hyderabad.
The existing project which was started with an outlay of Rs 12,000 crore and shot up to Rs 16,000 crore covers three major routes only.
The Hyderabad Metro Development Authority in association with LEA Consultants has identified new routes for expansion of the Metro Rail.
The project will, however, be costly because the inflated per km cost of Metro Rail has touched Rs 250 crore, taking the total cost to Rs 18,750 crore as per present day rates.
Investors, however, say that political stability is required for them to think of the project’s phase II.
However, with the division expected to reduce the floating population from the Seemandhra region, doubts have been raised over the viability of expansion.
The state government has already gone to considerable lengths in setting up the National Investment and Manufacturing Zone on about 12,000 acres in Medak district.
The project, which is one of three proposed in the state — the other two in Prakasam and Chittoor districts — aims at creating the required infrastructure for industries. While the state will provide land, the Centre will develop infrastructure.
Hyderabad’s strength is IT
The Telangana region will have to continue to bank on Hyderabad and its growth to achieve economic sustainability.
The city which is the bone of contention between the two regions, has already made a mark internationally thanks to the rapid growth of the IT industry.
The traditional strength of Hyderabad is the presence of several defence and public sector undertakings.
The recently-announced Information Technology Investment Region has raised the hopes of T-protagonists who believe that the project will take the capital to the next level in the international arena.
The Centre will fund the Rs 2.19 lakh crore for the ITIR, which would be spread over Gachibowli, Madhapur, Maheshwaram, Mamidipalli, Raviryal and Adibatla in the south and Uppal and Pocharam areas.
The unfinished semi-conductor hub, Fab City, in Maheshwaram will also be included under the ITIR. The hub will be developed over a period of 30 years in two phases with the first phase ending after five years.
According to the government, Information Technology/Information Technology Enabled Services (ITeS) is expected to attract an investment of about Rs 1.18 lakh crore while the Electronics Hardware Manufacturing sector would attract Rs 1.01 lakh crore worth of investment.
A note on the project also said that the mega industrial hub would generate a direct revenue of Rs 3.1 lakh crore and increase tax revenues by Rs 30,000 crore for the state.
The government has also announced that the hub will generate direct employment for about 14.8 lakh people and indirect employment for about 55.9 lakh people.
With the approval of the ITIR from the Centre, the local infrastructure in Hyderabad is also expected to get a boost.
The government said the estimated cost for upgradation of infrastructure like highways, power substations and radial roads of the ORR stands at Rs 4,863 crore while internal infrastructure of the ITIR will cost around Rs 13,100 crore.
State information minister D.K. Aruna had said the approval of the project would also bring in funding of about Rs 5,000 crore under the first phase for upgradation of the local infrastructure. The Metro Rail will also be extended from Falaknuma till the Shamshabad international airport.
Information technology minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah said the project approval was not linked to the bifurcation of the state and that Hyderabad would reach new heights in the IT sector courtesy the ITIR.
Coastline to anchor boom in Seemandhra
The 13 districts of coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema which will form the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh after division will witness huge economic growth if the government of the new state completes just the existing infrastructure projects, leave alone launching new projects.
With a long coast line of nearly 1,000 km, abundant gas reserves, widely connected rail and road networks, inland water ways and above all great entrepreneurship skills of people will set the stage for economic growth.
Confederation of Indian Industry’s Strategic Blueprint for Developing Industrial Coastal Corridor Across Krishna Godavari Prakasam Guntur Belt for developing the coastal corridor has brought out the potential of the region both in terms of agriculture and industry to turn the residuary into an economic power house.
“Based on the geographical advantages and availability of raw material, coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema can be segregated into different zones,” said industrialist Y. Harish Chandra Prasad.
While Visakhapatnam shall be made IT zone, East and West Godavari, Krishna and Guntur districts shall be agriculture, marine and food processing hubs. Prakasam, Nellore and Chittoor besides parts of Anantapur will be logistics hubs and manufacturing clusters, he added.
Since the area is predominantly agrarian, developing infrastructure for value addition to agro products will improve economic conditions of farmers.
The KGPG produces 32 per cent paddy of the entire state, 64 per cent tobacco, 50 per cent chillies and 47.9 per cent black gram. But, in terms of value addition through processing, the region is able to tap just 2-3 per cent of the potential, the blueprint pointed out. The cold storage capacity is just 4.01 lakh tonnes against the required 15 lakh tonnes.
The coastal region has already witnessed growth thanks to hectic operations in Visakhapatnam, Gangavaram, Kakinada and Krishnapatnam ports.
The Centre has proposed a second major port at Duggarajapatnam but politics of oneupmanship by Chittoor MP Chinta Mohan is delaying the project.
“We have three major initiatives that will help change the face of coastal districts,” says Capt. P. Mohan, chairman of National Shipping Board.
The revival of inland water way in the Buckingham Canal between Kakinada and Puducherry, which was operational during the British period, heavy incentives to shift from the traditional rail and road cargo movement to water ways and heavy subsidies for new shipyards that will build vessels for cargo movement across the coastline, he added.
An expert in the port sector, Capt. Mohan is of the view that another three non-major ports, one each at Kalingapatnam, Machilipatnam and Nizampatnam, would be adequate to attract investments in the region.
The state government has been sitting over the Machilipatnam Port project while the one in Nizampatnam ran into controversy following CBI’s illegal assets case involving promoter Nimmagadda Prasad.
The Petroleum, Chemical and Petro-chemical Investment Region proposed on thousands of acres in Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts, the Special Economic Zone on 7,000 acres in Kakinada and an industrial corridor in Prakasam district are some of the projects that need a push as there is not much progress in these infra projects.
The state government has also proposed a six-lane coastal highway along the coast from Srikakulam to Kakinada parallel to the existing National Highway but the project still remains on paper.
The multi product Special Economic Zone Sri City in Chittoor district is already attracting investments and the Centre has, in principle, sanctioned National Investment and Manufacturing Zones in Prakasam and Chittoor districts.
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/131230/news-current-affairs/article/special-infrastructure-key-rapid-growth?page=show
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