VIJAYAWADA, Oct 12: The proposed port at Duggarajupatnam in Nellore district has the potential to become a major shipping facility and benefit the industries existing in its vicinity, an Andhra Pradesh Minister said today.
The port will be constructed at a cost of Rs 7,500 crore and it will be an alternative to Viskhapatnam port, G Srinivasa Rao, Minister for Infrastructure, Ports and Airports, told reporters here.
Union Cabinet had cleared the port in May this year and Duggarajupatnam was chosen for the port ahead of two other sites – Nakkapalli (Visakhapatnam) and Ramayapatnam (Prakasam).
Duggarajupatnam has potential to become a major port, Rao said adding already Sri Siti SEZ is functioning in Nellore district and a number of granite industries and aquaculture have been developed in and around the area.
On the proposed new port in Machilipatnam, the Minister said land acquisition notification has been issued by State Government in this regard .
He said construction will start once land acquisition is completed.
To another query, Rao said the Centre had sanctioned Rs 250 crore for expansion of the airport at Vijayawada but that the work got delayed due to hurdles in land acquisition.
The State Government last month approved another Rs 110 crore for land acquisition and the expansion process will now pick up pace, he added. (PTI)
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