Mega housing project in Vizag gets clearance

Visakhapatnam , April 20

THE Rs 139-crore housing project proposed by the Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA) at Madhurawada village on the outskirts of Visakhapatnam was given the green signal at a public hearing here on Tuesday evening.

full story: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/04/21/stories/2005042102751900.htm

Golden City Dhyana Vihar Complex at Tada, Andhra Pradesh
http://www.lntecc.com/gallery/images/14/big1.jpg

http://www.business-standard.com/iceworld/storypage_link.php?chklogin=N&autono=188251&lselect=1&leftnm=lmnu9&leftindx=9

Andhra software exports touch Rs 8,270 crore

Top 10 Firms including Satyam & Wipro account for 63% of total exports

Our Regional Bureau / Hyderabad May 07, 2005



Software exports from Andhra Pradesh in the fiscal ended March 31, 2005, has surpassed the expectations and touched Rs 8,270 crore ($1.88 billion), registering a remarkable growth of 64.5 per cent over the previous year. The hardware exports from the state accounted for Rs 40 crore.

“This growth rate is much higher than the growth rate achieved by other cities in the country. It is beyond our expectation. It signifies the global acceptance of Hyderabad as the preferred IT destination,” a jubilant B V Naidu, director of Hyderabad and Bangalore Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), told mediapersons here on Friday.

Naidu said that the top 10 companies in Andhra Pradesh, including Satyam, Wipro, Infosys, Microsoft and GE Capital, have accounted for 63 per cent of the total exports.

The software was predominantly exported to USA (64 per cent of the total exports) and Europe (25 per cent) while 11 per cent of the exports were made to Australia, Japan and other Asian countries.

Andhra Pradesh clinches deal with Volkswagen

The much-talked Volkswagen car project of Germany is finally coming to Andhra Pradesh, according to the Minister for Major Industries, Botsa Satyanarayana.

http://www.hindu.com/2005/05/08/stories/2005050804260600.htm

What's Golden City Dhyana Vihar Complex

AP steps up efforts to promote Hyderabad as potential Hardware hub. (http://www.ciol.com/content/news/2005/105062704.asp)

“A high-profile delegation headed by the state legislative assembly speaker KR Suresh Reddy is visiting the US in July to meet with various semiconductor companies and IT, ITeS, pharma and automotive companies in association with the Information Technology of America Association (ITAA),”informed AP's IT and communications department secretary Ajay Sawhney.

The state's IT advisor and AP Invest CEO Dr C S Rao said that with the mega fab unit in the pipeline, the state hoped major companies would take note of the developments and make informed decisions.

Sawhney further added, “With the mega fab unit coming up in the next 15 months, we are also taking this opportunity of visiting the US to hold talks with various semiconductor companies and try attracting them to set up shop in Hyderabad. A fabrication unit will also have ancillary industries such as packaging, testing, assembling units, etc., and we are trying to hold meaningful talks with them.”


AP Tourism plans internatinal beach resort off Bay of Bengal (http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?leftnm=lmnu4&leftindx=4&lselect=4&chklogin=N&autono=191264)

We want to develop a beach resort with international features which will be just around one-and-a-half hours drive from Chennai. Our idea is to package the resort with the Pulicat Lake, a famous bird sanctuary, so that the international tourists can have enjoy bird watching during their stay,” Reddy told Business Standard.

The corporation aims to tap the opportunities by locating the beach resort closer to Chennai which has international airport and is also an attractive destination for foreign tourists.

According to him, there is a clear need for a beach resort in the Chennai-Nellore seacoast stretch where no beaches have been developed so far. “At present, we find tourist beaches situated only south of Chennai. There is not a single beach for tourists towards north of Chennai

Forbes:IJM in Joint Venture to Develop Township

Malaysian construction firm IJM Corp. said Monday it is jointly developing a township in India's southern Andhra Pradesh state for 599 million ringgit (US$158 million; euro132 million).

http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2005/07/11/ap2131107.html

Forbes:IJM in Joint Venture to Develop Township

Malaysian construction firm IJM Corp. said Monday it is jointly developing a township in India's southern Andhra Pradesh state for 599 million ringgit (US$158 million; euro132 million).

http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2005/07/11/ap2131107.html

It's good to see such projects coming up.

http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=111937

Finally, AP gets serious about urban infrastructure

The government wakes up as sops by other states threaten its charm

KVVV CHARYA
Posted online: Monday, December 19, 2005 at 0039 hours IST

HYDERABAD: Having realised that correct political affiliation and hype are just not enough to attract investments, the Andhra Pradesh government is now focusing on creating attractive and reliable infrastructure facilities, like wide roads, 24x7 water supply, uninterrupted power supply, quicker connectivity and policing.
Though the realisation is a bit delayed, the government is pumping over Rn 500 crore on infrastructure on the ground. It is improving roads and connectivity infrastructure, like culverts, overbridges etc. linking the Shamshabad area (near the proposed international airport) where the government also wanted to establish the proposed Fab City. “The proposed greater Hyderabad, covering a range of 40 km, will also be developed with about 12 townships and industrial parks,” say officials. While these proposals have been on the drawing board for long, there are indications that a concrete shape may be given to them soon. According to officials, the government is expecting huge funds from the Centre and the World Bank towards development of urban infrastructure. Accordingly, Hyderabad will be developed as a model city in the next two to three years, taking lessons from problems faced by neighbouring Bangalore, which is bursting at its seams.

The government has taken up road widening on a war-footing on important roads, like the Rajbhavan Road, Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills, which connects the airport to Hitec City and beyond where most of IT, ITeS companies are coming up.

A committee comprising heads has been set up of all departments concerned to improve traffic management and deal with traffic law-breakers. A similar exercise is being carried out in Visakhapatnam and Kakinada sectors focusing more on promotion of port-based activities, like chemical complex, oil and petroleum complex, pharmaceutical hub and SEZs for garments, leather and textile products.

According to business analysts, the overall development of urban infrastructure by identifying the opportune locations for industrial clusters, both for domestic and exports, is a multi-pronged strategy. The government is, therefore, looking at both domestic and foreign investment and offering reasonable incentives. On the other hand, it also bringing pressure on the Centre not to interfere with the marketing strategies of states. In one such move, the Prime Minister was appraised by chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy on the pressure tactics by Tamil Nadu to take away the Fab City project. AP is now preparing to stall West Bengal’s plan to take away the Kakinada Chemical Complex project to Haldia.

This apart, the government has also made a representation for removal of additional benefits being offered to companies by Uttaranchal and north-eastern states, as a result of which pharma companies are moving to Uttaranchal. Though the industry claims that only formulation units are establishing heir units there for additional capacity, AP is not ready to lose even that.

“The newly developed Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City in Visakhapatnam is the first victim, as pharma majors like Dr Reddy’s are establishing formulation units in Uttaranchal,” officials say. “We have already stabilised as a IT & BPO destination in country. Now the focus is on making the state attractive even for manufacturing,” officials added.

Vizag IT units to get SEZ status

THE Andhra Pradesh Government has decided to develop two hillocks (roughly 100 acres) allotted to the IT companies at Madhurawada village, overlooking the Bay of Bengal, as special economic zones.

At a press meet here on Saturday evening after a review meeting, Ms K. Ratnaprabha, IT Secretary, said that so far 14 companies had been allotted 59 acres on the two hillocks and ten more companies had applied for land.

"The Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority is developing the infrastructure and it has been decided to secure SEZ status to benefit the units," she said.

The companies would invest Rs 200 crore, providing employment to 13,000 people.

She said land had been allotted to major companies such as HSBC, Satyam Computers, Wipro and TCS here at other places.

"The HSBC call centre is functioning. Satyam has already started work and other companies will also start operations. We have ambitious plans to develop Vizag as the number one among the two-tier cities for IT companies," she said.

An IT incubation centre was also being set up here for the first generation entrepreneurs, she said.

"At present, Vizag accounts for software exports of Rs 70 crore and we have plans to increase it ten-fold by 2009," she added.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/12/26/stories/2005122601761300.htm

I only hope the gov't wakes up soon and implements projects quicker than what they're doing right now.

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?storyflag=y&leftnm=lmnu2&leftindx=2&lselect=1&chklogin=N&autono=209518


Andhra yet to see major investments

Our Regional Bureau / Hyderabad December 24, 2005



Andhra Pradesh may have been successful in attracting the attention of big corporates like Reliance in the non-IT sectors but it has to wait for at least three more years to see the flow of investments as in states like Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Though the gas production by Reliance and GSPC in KG Basin, which may commence in the second half of 2008, is expected to give the much-needed fillip to industrialisation in the state, other mega projects may go beyond 2008 to reach a decisive stage of implementation.

Even as about Rs 73,783 crore worth of investment proposals are in the pipeline, including mega projects worth about Rs 42,201 crore, only 47 proposals, worth Rs 10,608 crore, are actually under active implementation.

These projects are expected to commence production within 2-3 years’ time, according to a recent report prepared by the industries department. Of this, the expansion of Vizag Steel plant alone accounts for an investment of more than Rs 6,000 crore.

The other projects under active implementation include a Rs 171-crore integrated steel plant by Maa Mahamaya Industries Private Limited, Rs 137-crore CI components and machine parts plant by Tecumesh Products Private Limited, and a polished & glazed tiles and sanitaryware unit by RAK Ceramics.

Of the 47 proposals, only 16 are of the size of more than Rs 100 crore worth of investments. The remaining are in the range of Rs 25 crore to Rs 100 crore investments.

As far as mega projects are concerned, there is a list of 12 proposals with investments ranging from Rs 125 crore to Rs 18,000 crore on the table but most of them, even if they conclude by the early financial closure, would see the light of the day only by 2009-2010.

HPCL’s greenfield petrochemical complex proposal tops the list in terms of investment with an estimated Rs 18,000 crore in addition to the expansion of the existing refinery at Vizag at an estimated cost of Rs 1,635 crore.

The other mega projects under initial stages are Rs 2,500-crore refinery by ONGC-Mangalore Refineries & ILFS joint venture at Kakinada, Rs 2,000-crore expansion project by ITC Bhadrachalam (paper), Rs 9,000-crore aluminium project by the Jindal group, Rs 1,000-crore paper project by White Field Paper Limited in West Godavari, Rs 2,100-crore fertiliser project by Nagarjuna Fertilisers Limited at Karimnagar, and Rs 650-crore automotive glass manufacturing plant by Pilkington.

At present, the steel and ferro alloy industry is the leading sector in the state followed by bulk drugs and chemicals, and non-metallic minerals like cement in terms of investment.

The year-wise investment proposals received by the state industries department also indicate that the real break is yet to come in the manufacturing and other non-IT sectors in terms of size of investments.

During 2004-05, a total 75 projects with an investment of Rs 1,811 crore went into production. This is much lower as compared to 2001-02 when over 105 projects with Rs 2,240 crore investment went into production.

Till November, 2005, only 44 proposals involving Rs 494 crore investment have gone into production, according to the industries department. So far, 256 proposals with Rs 4,380 crore investment have been received during the current year.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Only 47 proposals worth Rs 10,608 crore are under active implementation
A list of 12 proposals with investments ranging from Rs 125 crore to Rs 18,000 crore is on the table
The real break is yet to come in the manufacturing & other non-IT sectors in terms of size of investments

http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=208979&cat=India



AP CM thanks PM for highest plan allocation
Hyderabad | January 03, 2006 8:41:37 PM IST


Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy today thanked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for making a massive plan allocation of Rs 15,650 crore to the State.
''This allocation is highest in the country and much higher than the one given to bigger states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and to the developed Maharashtra'', Dr Reddy said with satisfaction while taking part in the function to lay the foundation stone for the Outer Ring Road.

The Chief Minister sought all support from Dr Singh making the State number one in the country.

He also thanked him for starting the National Employment Guarantee scheme, under which employment would be provided for 100 days to the landless poor in 13 districts in the state.

Governor Sushilkumar Shinde said he had been witnessing the progress of the state for the last one year.

He wanted planners to concentrate on preparing a blueprint for development of the state for the next 50 years with focus on both, urban and rural areas.

Referring to death of children straying into national highways, he said development of service roads was a must.

Rs. 100 crores for SHGs in Mahabubnagar

Some 600 VOs chosen for financial assistance from 1,700 village organisations
Record amount of money for village organisations
Guidelines sought for implementation of new scheme
Bankers urged to take steps for the success of new credit plan

http://www.hindu.com/2006/01/07/stories/2006010714860300.htm

http://www.hindu.com/2006/01/11/stories/2006011111900500.htm


Fresh hopes on Volkswagen project


HYDERABAD: The German auto major Volkswagen has given fresh hopes to the State Government on the car project.

After inspecting the 300-acre site on Monday at Aganampudi at Visakhapatnam offered by the State Government for the car project, a five-member team of the company held daylong parleys at Hotel Taj Krishna here today with officials of the Industries Department. The team was led by Peter Walter, head of India Project, and Frank Elbe, former German Ambassador to India.

Details of the visit were kept a secret at the instance of the company. The team left for New Delhi after the talks.

However, a senior official later told The Hindu that the discussions had raised hopes about the project. "If the company is not interested in Andhra Pradesh, why should the Volkswagen team pay a visit within two months of earlier one to Tada in Nellore district ?" he asked. He said the talks were inconclusive with the German team not clearly indicating "yes" or "no" about the project. Frank Elbe was brought specially to defuse the difficult situation, if any, during the discussions.

According to sources, the discussions centred not around the sites offered at Visakhapatnam and Tada, but mainly on the likely concessions and incentives by the Government. The German team was keen this time to know the possible impact of VAT, which was introduced all over the country, on the project. Apart from reiterating the plea for reduced tariff for electricity and water supply, the German team sought clarifications on Central Excise.

The Government team was led by Principal Secretary, Industries, Lakshmi Parthasarathy.

Suryalata embarks on expansion plans

Hyderabad, Jan 12: Suryalata Spinning Mills Limited has embarked on a Rs 126-crore expansion of its weaving and processing facilities in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, aiming to become an integrated player to leverage the emerging opportunities in the free trade regime.

Under the expansion scheme the company will increase its capacity by 45,000 spindles at a cost of Rs 91 crore and set up weaving and processing units at a cost of Rs 35 crore with 50,000-metre a day capacity at its facility in Kalwakurthy in Andhra Pradesh and Ramtek in Maharashtra.


http://www.newkerala.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=85195

http://www.newkerala.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=88277

Andhra Pradesh Cabinet nod for land to Apache SEZ

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet today gave its approval for alienation of 314.57 acre to Singapore-based Apache Investment Holdings Pte Ltd, an exclusive supplier of footwear to Adidas for setting up Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for footwear near Tada in Nellore district at a total investment of Rs 500 crore.

Briefing newspersons after a Cabinet meeting here, Information Minister Md Ali Shabeer said Apache would make an initial investment of Rs 200 crore at Mambattu in the district and the project was expected to create jobs 3000 to 7000 jobs by the year-end.

An MoU had been signed with Apache which had strong presence in many countries, including the USA and China.




http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?storyflag=y&leftnm=lmnu1&leftindx=1&lselect=1&chklogin=N&autono=212047

M&M seeks govt support for truck unit in Andhra

Our Regional Bureau / Hyderabad January 18, 2006

Arun Mahindra, executive director of Mahindra & Mahindra Limited (M&M), met chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy today to seek the government’s support for the infrastructural requirements for their proposed unit to manufacture trucks and buses in the state.

Apart from a couple of locations in other states, Zahirabad in Andhra Pradesh is on the company radar to set up its new plant. At Zahirabad, M&M has a manufacturing plant that produces tractors and semi-utility vehicles (SUVs).

According to highly placed sources, the company is expected to make the announcement on the project location within a week or two. Sources close to the development said that chief minister Rajasekhara Reddy, while promising to provide all the necessary support, suggested to the company representative to go ahead with the announcement in favour of the state.

“Leave all that to me, and make the announcement in our favour,” was said to be the parting remark of the chief minister during the 15-minute meeting.

The state had missed the bus by not acting in time on the requests of M&M for water supply when it came forward to locate Logan car unit at Zahirabad.

This time around, the same water issue, apart from the request for four-laning of the Hyderabad-Zahirabad road, is said to have come up for discussion during Arun’s meeting with the chief minister. The company delegation sought a letter from the Andhra Pradesh government to this effect, the sources said.

M&M delegation also visited a couple of other places, including the one at the new international airport for the purpose.





Andhra steals march over TN

Our Regional Bureau / Hyderabad January 18, 2006

Chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy is expected to lay the foundation stone for the Adidas shoe manufacturing facility on February 25, 2005, marking the quickest-ever processing of an application for any private project by the government.

The unit is being set up by Singapore-based Apache Investment Holdings Private Limited at Mambattu in Tada mandal of Nellore district

Pulling a last minute surprise on Tamil Nadu, which was the prime contender for the Rs 500-crore investment from Apache, the Andhra Pradesh government signed an MoU with the company in the first week of this month providing over 315 acres of land besides other facilities required for setting up of the project.

“We are working to complete all the formalities, besides securing the SEZ status for the project well within the time to enable the company to go ahead with the foundation laying ceremony on February 25,” a senior government official told Business Standard.

Besides offering the land free, the government has also agreed to pay Rs 12,000 per person towards training requirements. The 2-million capacity shoe manufacturing plant is expected to provide employment to 30,000 workers.

http://www.business-standard.com/iceworld/storypage_link.php?chklogin=N&autono=212204&lselect=1&leftnm=lmnu9&leftindx=9

Oracle to provide $114-million software grants to JKC

Oracle India Private Limited has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Institute for Electronic Governance (IEG), according to which Oracle will provide software grants worth more than $114 million to 60 Jawahar Knowledge Centres (JKC) in Andhra Pradesh.

This increases the in-kind value of Oracle’s total software grants to educational institutions in India to over $250 million.

Jawahar Knowledge Centres, an initiative of the IEG, have been set up at 50 engineering colleges across the state to develop quality manpower for the IT sector. These centres provide technical and soft skills to the students. Around 42 companies like Satyam, HSBC and Microsoft have already partnered with IEG in this regard.

Addressing the media on Wednesday, Krishan Dhawan, managing director of Oracle India, said, “There is a need to bridge the gap between the skills that the students are trained in and the requirements of the industry. The Oracle database is an industry standard and as a $12-billion company, we support a global ecosystem worth $120 billion. In India itself, there are 6,400 companies and government departments that run their business on the Oracle platform. Our academic initiative will enable students to enter the job market more confidently.”

The 8,600-strong company hires around 300 students from campus every year. The company will be touching the 10,000-mark by the end of December 2006.

Under the MoU, Oracle will grant software licenses for Oracle10g Database, Oracle10g Application server and Oracle10g developer Suite, and provide faculty training to the network of JKCs across Andhra Pradesh.

This takes the total number of higher educational institutions that will be covered under the Oracle Academic Initiative to 150 in India.

According to Subba Rao Ganta, president of IEG, around 2,000 engineering students and 1,100 degree students will be benefited directly through this initiative.

“We plan to start JKCs in 11 degree colleges this year. There are plans for taking this initiative to schools and intermediate colleges too.” Around Rs 9 crore is spent annually on the salaries of the 800 people working for JKCs.

Meanwhile, Ratna Prabha, secretary, IT and communications, said that the government had a long-term measure of revamping the syllabus at engineering colleges.





http://www.iht.com/getina/files/303635.html

AP pharma industry fights PSU dominance

Hyderabad: The pharmaceuticals industry in Andhra Pradesh is up in arms over the government's move to purchase antibiotics only from public sector drug manufacturers, instead of through the market, using the open tender route.

According to the Organisation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers, which represents the small-scale pharmaceutical industry, the government buys antibiotics of nearly Rs 30 crores for distribution to patient at government-owned hospitals.

"These medicines were bought through open tender, and PSUs were also invited to bid for the government contracts. This despite the fact that there is no government-owned drug manufacturing company in Andhra Pradesh, with Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Ltd having shut down its production many years ago. Pharmaceutical PSUs from other states were allowed to bid," says an industry source, who is closely associated with the development.

But, according to the source, the finance department issued a circular recently directing government hospitals to buy the antibiotics only from PSUs. "This move has come as a major blow to the pharmaceuticals industry, particularly the small and medium scale units. Pharmaceutical PSUs in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and other states have been routing the antibiotics through distributors," the sources said.

"The monopoly of allowing only PSUs to supply antibiotics has been misused by them through the formation of a cartel, raising the price of antibiotics," the OPM said in a letter to the government.

"The policy intended the PSUs to supply the antibiotics directly to hospitals, but they are instead being routed through distributors. These distributors are purchasing the antibiotics at very low rates from the PSUs and supplying them to the government hospitals at the rate contracts offered by the PSUs," the letter said.

"The government's directive on purchasing antibiotics only from PSUs violates an Andhra Pradesh high court order," sources said.

http://www.newkerala.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=79833

Rs 4,294 crore income tax collected in Andhra Pradesh region


Hyderabad: The Income Tax Department today collected an amount of Rs 4,294 crore tax at the end of December in the current financial year against last year's collection of Rs 3,018 crore in Andhra Pradesh.

Andhra Pradesh has set a target of Rs 6,401 crore tax collection for the current financial and an around 67 per cent of the total targeted amount has already been collected, said Hyderabad Chief Commissioner of Income Tax-I D V Dharmik said in a relase here.

Based on the information from six lakh pieces of information from various sources like Banks, Cell Phone coampanies, hotels, Stock Exchanges, sub-registrars and transport authorities, the Chief Commissioner said notices were being issued to 15,000 individuals, who have spent or invested unaccounted income of Rs five-lakh or more each.

As per the analysis showed that these individuals do not have Permanent Account Numbers(PANs) and have not filed their income tax returns and would take up further action against them, he explained.

Asked about the collection of newly imposed Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT), Mr Dharmik said an amount of Rs 36 crore was collected as FBT from employers in the State till the end of December.

He also said as many as 48 raids were conducted on tax evaders and recovered an amount of Rs 23 crore in the current financial year, the release added.

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?storyflag=y&leftnm=lmnu1&leftindx=1&lselect=1&chklogin=N&autono=212329

Skoda Export proposes Rs 10,000cr SEZ at Nizampatnam

Czechoslovakia’s Skoda Export Company Limited is back after a gap of decades with a Rs 10,000 crore investment proposal, which involves setting up of a port-based industrial city project in the state.

The company is credited with the establishment of Navratnas like BHEL and Visakhapatnam Steel Plant by providing technology for the turbo generator set manufacturing facility and the steel-rolling mill in Andhra Pradesh.

Czechoslovakian Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek, who was in Hyderabad, met chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy on Thursday. His short trip, in fact, amplified the significance of the investment proposed by Skoda Export at Nizampatnam, a minor port in Guntur district.

With the ground work for a possible MoU ready, Skoda Export Company’s chairman and chief executive J Hubacek, who led the business delegation that accompanied the Czech premier, gave a presentation of the project.

The company proposes to establish a port-based multi-product special economic zone (SEZ) at Nizampatnam, which will include a urea plant, a 1,000-megawatt thermal power plant and an LNG terminal with the collaboration of a local oil company, according to Anish Reddy, director, Skoda (India) Private Limited.

Skoda Export Company acts as an EPC (engineer-procure-construct) contractor for investment capital projects like thermal and hydro power stations, chemical plants, metallurgy plants among others. Volkswagen’s Skoda Auto division was originally with Skoda Export before it was sold to the German car major.

The company’s selection of Nizampatnam port, which so far has no significant operations, is a result of an evolution of its initial proposal of setting up of a thermal power plant in the coal-rich Sattupally in Khammam district.

“Initially, I lobbied with the company just to get investments to my constituency. But later, I was convinced of its keenness to take up a much bigger project for the state and worked for its realisation,” Jalagam Venkat Rao, Sattupally MLA, and son of former chief minister late Jalagam Vengala Rao, told Business Standard.

Anish Reddy termed the selection of Nizampatnam as a wise choice. “Nizampatnam is more economical for exporters of iron ore, granite, cement among other products,” he said.

Once both the governments enter into a formal understanding, a detailed project report along with the possible local collaboration is expected to be finalised. According to Anish Reddy, the company wants to start the work on the project within a year’s time.

The state government is expected to sign the MoU with Skoda Export Company sometime next month when the Czechoslovakia Republic’s industries and commerce minister visits Hyderabad.

The state government is also keen to convince Tatra, the Czechoslovakian auto company, which produces a wide range of heavy-duty off-road trucks, to set up its unit in the state, Anish Reddy said.

Andhra Pradesh Govt clears international leather park proposal
January 20, 2006

Proposal to construct an international leather park at Krishnapatnam in Nellore district has been cleared by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.

Planning Commission and the Union Government had already cleared the project.

The project would receive funding worth Rs29 crore from the centre and balance Rs164 crore would be raised by the developer.

Proposal to develop 37 acres of land at Darga Hussain Shah Wali for Leather Industries Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh, establishing of Indo-German Institute of Advanced Technology at Visakhapatnam, and an Aero Space Park near Hyderabad was also cleared by the Chief Minister.






i've no news about the Indo-German Institute of Advanced Technology. does anybody have any clue?

http://in.today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2006-01-26T141306Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-233897-1.xml


NALCO to invest 50 bln rupees in refinery

HYDERABAD (Reuters) - State-run National Aluminium Co. Ltd. will invest 50 billion rupees ($1.1 billion) in an alumina refinery through a joint venture with Andhra Pradesh state, its chairman said on Thursday.

NALCO will hold 49.5 percent in the joint venture with Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corp. (APMDC), which will have 10.9 percent, Chairman and Managing Director C.R. Pradhan told reporters in Hyderabad.

"We propose to set up a joint venture company with APMDC which will undertake the mining of bauxite deposits," Pradhan said.

There are an estimated 700 million tonnes of bauxite deposits in the area where the smelter would be located, Pradhan said, without mentioning who would hold the remaining stake.

A formal agreement will be signed in the next two months.

A new tourist hub in Vizag (http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEA20060127111655&Page=A&Title=Southern+News+-+Andhra+Pradesh&Topic=0)






The 25-km stretch between Vizag and Bheemili will soon become the new destination for domestic and international tourists.

This coastline is attracting a good number of domestic investors, including NRIs who want to pump in large amounts in hospitality and entertainment industry here.

Some of the internationally reputed companies have approached the State Government and the district administration for setting up resorts, amusement parks, star hotels and entertainment courts in the vicinity of the Port City.

The investment expected from these companies in travel and tourism sector is Rs 240 crore. This is besides Rs 2,000 crore being invested in a mega project by an NRI.

The Ministry of Tourism and Visakhapatnam District Administration have already inked six MoUs with various companies for health resorts, wayside amenities, water sports, health spas and theme park which are expected to come up on Vizag-Bheemili beach road by 2007.

A group of NRIs from the United States, Brazil and Spain have signed an MoU with the government for setting up resorts at Bheemili, Rishikonda and Parwada on 1,000 acres.

Not only by the beach road, the tourism sector is booming in many places in Vizag, according to District Tourism Development Officer B Subba Rao.

Rao told this website’s newspaper that another mega project near the airport and Gajuwaka would be finalised by Feb 6. Three star hotels, two multiplex theatres and a family entertainment project would be set up with Rs 50 crore.

All the companies would start work soon and the Tourism Department and the district administration would provide the infrastructure, Rao said.

Jindal Vizag plant`s financial closure in 8 months (http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?storyflag=y&leftnm=lmnu1&leftindx=1&lselect=1&chklogin=N&autono=213086)





The Jindal Group’s JSW Aluminium Limited, which signed a memorandum of understanding about six months back with the state government for setting up a 1.4-million tonne capacity aluminium refinery in Visakhapatnam district, will take another 6-8 months to achieve financial closure.

“The cost of the proposed project will be around Rs 9,000 crore including the captive power plant. We have not yet finalised the debt-equity ratio, so it will take 6-8 months to achieve financial closure,” Hormohan H Sahni, chief finance officer of JSW Aluminium Limited, told mediapersons on Wednesday.

The company may mop up 40-50 per cent of the total project cost from internal resources, and will approach financial institutions for the remaining funds.

The group is also planning to own a berth at the Visakhapatnam port or at the upcoming Gangavaram port for alumina exports.

“We plan to export alumina produced from the plant. Keeping this in mind, we have already approached the Visakhapatnam port for construction of a captive berth on a build, operate, transfer (BOT) basis. We have the option of Gangavaram port too,” Anunay Kumar, director (business development), JSW Aluminium, said.

According to him, JSW needs about 4.5 million tonnes of bauxite ore annually, which would be supplied by the state government.

“We will not take part in the bauxite mining activity, but if the government requires, we will provide technology and machinery for better mining without disturbing the forest area,” he said.

The government had completed the acquisition of 4,000 acres of land to set up the unit. It had agreed to supply 25 MGD (million gallons per day) of water for production requirements, he said. “Within 36 months, we will start production.

The company plans to expand the plant capacity from the proposed 1.4 million tonnes to 2.8 million tonnes in the near future,” he said.

Kuda to develop Rs 100cr complex in Hanamkonda (http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?storyflag=y&leftnm=lmnu2&leftindx=2&lselect=1&chklogin=N&autono=213427)

According to Kuda chairman Srinivas Reddy, it would develop a Rs 100-crore complex at Balasamudram in Hanamkonda in public-private participation. The complex, proposed over 10.5-acre of land, will house government offices, besides multiplexes, shopping malls, a four-star hotel, convention halls and IT towers.

As part of the plans to develop Warangal, the 161-acre Azam Jahi Mills land would be developed for residential and commercial purposes. With the help of the Andhra Pradesh government, Kuda secured 131 acres of the mills land from the National Textile Corporation at a cost of Rs 31.5 crore.

The remaining 30 acres, which was allocated to the Textile Apparel Park at a cost of Rs 9 crore, would also be taken into its fold shortly.

Yet another ambitious plan of Kuda is to develop of a residential apartment complex at a cost of Rs 8 crore near Ambedkar Bhavan in Hanamkonda.

A total of 70 units comprising five-storeyed buildings would be developed in an extent of 6,000 square yards, the plinth area of which would be around one lakh sq ft.

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?storyflag=y&leftnm=lmnu1&leftindx=1&lselect=1&chklogin=N&autono=213604

Gangavaram Port aims to handle 8mn tn of cargo


The Gangavaram Port, which plans to commence cargo handling operations from December 2007, is aiming to handle about 8 million tonnes of cargo in the first year of operations.

“We have already awarded the break water construction, berths construction and other civil works to L&T, and the dredging works to Belgium-based Dredge International. These companies have started works recently,” A Rama Raju, assistant vice-president, Gangavaram Port Limited, told Business Standard.

The port would award the equipment supply contract to a foreign company shortly, he added.

“We expect the work to complete before December 2007. In 2008-09, we expect to handle 8-10 million tonnes of cargo,” he said.

Several companies like the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, National Thermal Power Corporation, Pharmacity, MMTC Limited, Jindal Aluminum Company, and others which are coming up at the proposed Andhra Pradesh special economic zone, were in negotiations to import/export their cargo though the new port, he added.

In the first phase, the company is constructing five berths, which can accommodate two lakh DWT (dead weight tonnage) vessels. The five berths would enable the port to handle up to 15 million tonnes a year.

"In the first phase, we are constructing 1,750 metre-long south break water, 800 metre-long northern break water, 300-length 21-metre draft entrance channel, besides five berths, stockyards and godowns. We are providing the latest and higher capacity handling equipment and all handling operations will be fully mechanised,” he said.

The state government, which has an 11 per cent equity, had provided 2,800 acres of land and was creating infrastructure facilities like roads, while the remaining equity was with DVS Raju consortium. During the first phase, the company was investing Rs 1,850 crore, Raju said.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/02/05/stories/2006020511120100.htm

Interference in irrigation works will not be tolerated, says YSR

# Officials asked to report to Chief Minister
# Chidambaram to be apprised of progress of works
# Jalayagnam's total requirement Rs. 1 lakh crores

HYDERABAD: Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy has warned politicians and Ministers against interfering in irrigation works by putting pressure on officials to change the design or estimates.

He asked officials to report back to him if any MLA, Minister or their relatives or brokers demanded commissions, percentages or goodwill amount from them or contractors. He would immediately launch action. "There is no need to pay a single paise extra," he said.

Review meet

Reviewing the progress of works on 30 major and 18 medium irrigation projects at a meeting here on Saturday, Dr. Reddy said if officials themselves were found guilty, they would be punished severely. He wanted them to ensue quality in works, saying "Jalayagnam is also your programme and all of us are answerable to eight crore people of the State."

Dr Reddy said the progress of works would be explained to the Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia to seek Central assistance in order to seek a loan-grant ratio of 50:50 against 70:30 now.

During his visit to New Delhi on February 7 and 8, he would request them to see the projects themselves.

Finance Minister K. Rosaiah, who participated in the review meeting, announced to reporters later that a budget of Rs. 10,000 crores would be earmarked for irrigation for 2006-07, Rs. 13,000 crores for 2007-08, and Rs. 17,000 crores the next year.

With the expenditure for 2005-06 almost reaching Rs. 7,000 crores against the allotment of Rs 6,300 crores, the total for the five-years period up to 2008-09 for irrigation was Rs 49,631 crores.

Yet, an additional Rs. 50,000 crores is required, as projects like Kalwakurthy IV, Pranahita-Chevella, Inchampalli and Dummagudem-Nagarjunasagar Canal have also been taken up.




after years of neglect, finally major investments are being made in agriculture and irrigation.
also, $10 billion investment for irrigation in a single state over a 5 year period is huge, massive, and GOD knows what else.
surely, the agriculture in AP will benefit by all this and rural people's standards of living will improve drastically by 2012 compared to the present situation.

http://www.business-standard.com/iceworld/storypage.php?chklogin=&autono=214288&leftnm=lmnu9&leftindx=9&lselect=1



AP software exports pegged at Rs 12,500 cr


Software exports from Andhra Pradesh have been projected at Rs 12,500 crore for 2005-06. This will take the state’s share in national software exports to around 15 per cent this year as compared to around 11 per cent last year.

By 2010, the contribution of Andhra Pradesh’s software exports to the national projected figure of $60 billion is expected to be around 25 per cent.

Addressing the media, B V Naidu, director of Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), Hyderabad and Bangalore, said, “As on January 1, 2006, the software exports from Andhra Pradesh touched the Rs 8,963-crore mark. Based on our projections we will be growing by 51 per cent this year to reach the Rs 12,500-crore mark.”

Last year, the software exports from the state were Rs 8,270 crore.

Maximum exports have been to USA and Canada followed by Europe, APAC region, West Asian countries and South Africa. On segment basis, technology software has contributed the maximum (40 per cent) to the exports, followed by ITeS/BPO (34 per cent).

The total number of new software units added in the state is 127 so far, projected to reach 170 by the fiscal end. The investment by these units has been around Rs 1,015 crore with foreign companies contributing more than 70 per cent in this regard.

The total investment is expected to be around Rs 1,200 crore by the end of this financial year. The cumulative employment by the IT and ITeS sector in the state is expected to be around 1.5 lakh by the year end.

According to Naidu, Bangalore has so far been attracting a lot of venture capital (VC) support for its IT companies.

“VCs are, however, now looking even beyond Bangalore, at cities like Hyderabad as well. We expect the state to contribute 25 per cent to the national software exports by 2010,” he added.

More investments to flow in

Andhra Pradesh can look forward to more investments in the coming months. Honeywell, a technology and manufacturing major, that has its presence in Bangalore, Gurgaon, Chennai and Pune in India, will be setting up a campus in Hyderabad within a year’s time.

Besides, according to B V Naidu, director, STPI (Hyderabad and Bangalore), a financial and a retail major are keen on setting up their operations in the city.

“We are also in talks with one Indian and a multinational company in the IT/ITeS space to promote Kakinada as their destination for expansion,” he added. The Government of India has also approved the starting of a new STPI centre at Kakinada.

Sharp Software Development India Ltd that has its presence in Bangalore, will be expanding to Tirupati shortly.

“Initially, the company plans to set up a 45-people team for providing software testing services, to support its Bangalore centre. We are expecting two other companies to expand to Tirupati as well,” Naidu added.

Meanwhile, STPI will be setting up an incubation facility in Tirupati in the next two months, followed by Hyderabad in the next one year. The Tirupati and Hyderabad facilities are expected to involve an investment of around Rs 3 crore and $3 million respectively.

“An incubation facility has also been planned for Vijayawada in the near future,” he said. STPI will also be focusing on building the brand of tier-II cities in the state via promotional videos.



not just Visakhapatnam; even Kakinada, Anantapur, Tirupati, and Vijayawada are being promoted. Good progress and hopefully exports cross the Rs. 16,500 crore mark by 06-07.

Garment, textile sectors get big boost in Andhra

According to officials, chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy is giving top priority to the sector, which continues to enjoy a good export potential owing to a 10 per cent cap imposed by Western nations on Chinese garment exports. The restrictions will be in force till 2009-10.

Apart from announcing a 100-acre garment special economic zone at Visakhapatnam to be set up by Brandix Lanka Limited, the state government recently roped in the country’s top garment exporters, namely Gokul Das Exports Limited, Shahi Exports Limited, Orient Craft, Gokul Das Images and Texpro Syndicate, to start their operations in Nacharam IDA in Hyderabad.

Among other major industries closing in on Andhra Pradesh, Grasim Industries is already scouting for a location to set up a big rayon fibre plant. According to officials, the company is now actively considering Gadwal in backward Mahaboobnagar district as a possible location. Visaka Industries too has announced its plans to set up a cotton spinning mill near Hyderabad.

And in this overall scheme of things undertaken by the government, the coastal district of Guntur occupies a very strategic place as it is the biggest cotton market and is the manufacturing base of three lakh cotton spindles a year. The government has entered into an understanding with Prime Textiles Limited, which has proposed a textile processing unit at an investment of around Rs 800 crore at Guntur. Going a step further, the government has already declared a mini-garment park there.

Besides offering land at concessional rates, the government has announced a very low power tariff. This apart, it is also providing Rs 5,000 towards training expenses of each person employed in garment units.

Supporting the state’s effort on developing the garment sector, Union minister of state for commerce Jairam Ramesh, during his first visit to Hyderabad recently, pointed out that at least one million jobs could be created in the state by facilitating more garment manufacturing units in the state.

According to officials, speed in decision-making and implementation would play a major role in this sector as it offers multiplication of operations at great speed. Though the government has realised the importance of quick decision-making, implementing the same is yet to match its positive intentions.

For instance, it had issued a GO allotting about 48 acres to the five garment export houses in Nacharam IDA more than a month ago but the land is yet to be transferred to these companies. Each of them have offered to create 3,000 jobs at the proposed locations.

The state government is also in negotiations with buying houses to set their shops in Hyderabad and are planning to earmark more land outside the city.

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?storyflag=y&leftnm=lmnu2&leftindx=2&lselect=1&chklogin=N&autono=214265

Tirupati to be IT hub soon (http://ia.rediff.com/money/2006/feb/07it.htm)

Addressing a media conference in Hyderabad on Monday, B V Naidu, director of Software Technology Park of India (Hyderabad) said though Tirupati was designated as a 'tier II city', the software sector is poised to strike roots in the temple town in the near future.

"We are making efforts to brand and promote Tirupati as an ideal centre, a back-up site, due to its proximity to major IT clusters such as Bangalore and Chennai. In fact, Tirupati is the only town, which is closer to the two major clusters.

"We are setting up an incubation centre in Tirupati within the next two months and are targeting anchor companies to start their operations there. The growth of IT sector in Tirupati will support similar operations in adjoining districts," Naidu explained.

Sharp Corporation will start its operations in Tirupati with a 45-member team in testing and services.

tirupati will make a good destination especially because it is close to both chennai and hyderabad. also, cost of living and other expenses are very low and property rates very cheap. tirupati is truly a strategic location. and so is anantapur, which is just located i think 100 km from tirupati or less.

http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=274050&sid=REG

Dam to be constructed across Palar River: Reddy

New Delhi, Feb 07: Andhra Pradesh today asserted that it would carry out construction of a dam across Palar River and other irrigation projects in the state without hampering the interests of other states.

"Without hampering the rights of other states and within our rights, whatever we have to do we will do,” Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy told reporters here.

He was responding to a question on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's letter to him objecting to reports of Andhra Pradesh's plans for the construction of a dam over Palar River near Kuppam in Andhra Pradesh.

Observing that he came to know about the project only after Jayalalithaa's letter to him, Reddy said that it was such a small project and he was not even aware of it.

"I have received a letter from the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and I have responded to that,” he said adding that he got the matter checked up after the letter.




wonder about the relations between TN and AP if this project takes off because TN leaders have strictly and vocally opposed it.

State's economy on an upswing, says Governor

http://www.hindu.com/2006/02/15/stories/2006021509250100.htm



growth rate of 7.55 per cent in the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) for the current fiscal, the highest in the recent past, against 6.39 per cent last year.
It was also embarking on a Rs. 860-crore DFID-aided health sector reform plan over the next five years to improve access to quality healthcare for the poor.
set up a constituent engineering college of JNTU at Pulivendula, Assembly constituency represented by Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy from next academic year. It had also resolved to set up three new State Universities at Nizamabad, Rajahmundry and Kadapa.

Volkswagen car unit for Visakhapatnam

The wait seems to be finally over. Volkswagen, the German auto major, will be inking a memorandum of understanding with the AP State Government next month.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/02/16/stories/2006021609520100.htm

really a good news for andhra pradesh :cheers:

wow..with this Vizag has over Rs. 30,000 crores investment in line this year....will change the face of the city drastically even if half of them see the light.


Investments proposed/approved in Vizag


HPCL greenfield petrochemical complex - 9000 crores
Vizag steel plant expansion - 6000 crores
Nalco - 5000 crores
Jindal Aluminium Plant - 9000 crores
HPCL existing refinery expansion - 1635 crores
Volkswagen - 5400 crores
Pharma City
Apparel park
Satyam
Wipro
Oracle
Gangavaram Port



Add to this the existing 15 large scale industries...and surely it will become the new manufacturing hub of India.

WOW, really great news!!!!!

Vizag's people will love this. they felt betrayed when the scandal occured the first time.

from a political perspective, this will strengthen Congress's candidature for the upcoming elections in visakhapatnam.

Hyderabad: The state government is making what it thinks is an irresistible offer to General Motors (GM) to set up an automobile plant in Andhra Pradesh. The offer comprises a package similar to that being offered to SemIndia’s chip fabrication project including cheap water, power and land, in addition to likely tax breaks accruing from special economic zone (SEZ) status.
Officials said the state government would prefer the automobile unit to come up in Visakhapatnam but indications are that if at all GM chooses Andhra Pradesh, its preference would be Tada in Nellore district.
Government sources told TOI that GM was being offered power at Rs 1.85 per unit, and water at Rs 15 per kilolitre. Also, the company would get a five-year tax holiday similar to the break given to SemIndia, besides a captive power plant to provide uninterrupted power supply. Industrial consumers in the state get power at Rs 3.56 per unit and water at Rs 35 per kilolitre.
“Tada’s geographical advantage—it is just 60 km from Chennai’s international airport and 30 km from the Krishnapatnam port—coupled with SEZ status, cheap power and water would eventually be advantageous to GM. We’re hopeful that the company would opt for Andhra Pradesh,’’ claimed a senior official. There is also a proposal to revive AP Genco’s power plant in Nellore to meet the energy requirements of the Tada SEZ.
GM, which has a plant in Halol near Vadodara, is planning to invest up to $ 1 billion in a second plant in India. Company officials remained tightlipped on whether what they have in mind in a completely-knocked-down or semi-knocked-down (assembly) unit or a fullfledged manufacturing facility. Other than AP, Karnataka and Maharashtra are on GM’s radar.

... link (http://epaperdaily.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOI&BaseHref=TOIH/2006/02/17&PageLabel=3&EntityId=Ar00304&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T)

if AP can win this, YSR will have my support when the next elections come.

...

TEXAS Power Generation to invest in AP (http://www.newkerala.com/news2.php?action=fullnews&id=11963)


Texas Power Generation, a company formed by Indians in the US, is planning to set up a 1,320 megawatt coal-based thermal plant in Chhattisgarh.

The plant will be a part of its plans to invest $10 billion in the country over 10 years.

"We are planning $1.2-$1.5 billion investment in setting up the 1,320-megawatt, coal-based power plant in Chhattisgarh," said Vijay Jain, chairman and president of the Houston, Texas-based company.

"We have already signed a 25-year contract with PTC India (formerly, the Power Trading Corp) for the off-take of power and sought land clearance," Jain told IANS.

"We have also applied for a coal block and hope to get it by the year-end."

The company is planning to open an office in New Delhi to plan future projects and prepare project reports. Jain hopes to begin construction by January next year and complete it by 2011.

"Provided we get fuel supply linkages, we are looking at more power plants in India with investments of $2-10 billion over the next 10 years. With the Indian economy looking upward, we feel this is the right time to invest," he said.

The company is also studying opportunities in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra for mega power plants proposed by the state governments, with financial support from the Power Finance Corporation.

The Houston-based company is already engaged in setting up an integrated steel plant in Hyderabad with a 15-megawatt captive power plant.

AP is supposed to become free from energy shortage by 2010 when the new power plants in various parts of state start their operations. so, more in the power sector.

http://www.ndtvprofit.com/homepage/storybusiness.asp?id=29816&template=


Andhra govt to promote border districts

The Andhra Pradesh government is setting its sights beyond the state's borders.

Buoyed by the FAB city project coming to Hyderabad, the YS Rajasekhara Reddy government is planning to promote economic activity in the districts bordering Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to attract investment in the state.

Reddy was obviously overjoyed by Hyderabad beating six other cities in bagging the $ three billion FAB city project to manufacture microprocessors and semi-conductor silicon chips.

"The Devanahalli airport near Bangalore is just 60 km from the Andhra border. To go from Devanahalli to the Electronic city in Bangalore, one has to cross the entire city, which is terribly congested. Fortunately while coming towards the AP border, there is no traffic,'' said Reddy.

Quick action

The Andhra Pradesh government signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the FAB city project with SemIndia within a week of announcing the project.

The move was aimed at shutting the door firmly on Bangalore's hopes to make the company reconsider its decision.

"Coming from the US after 35 years, to see that the governments here move so fast shows India has changed,'' said Vinod Aggarwal, President and CEO, SemIndia.

The state government now wants to make use of its geographical proximity to the international airports in Bangalore and Chennai by setting up Special Economic Zones in Anantapur and Nellore, neighbouring Karnataka and Tamil Nadu respectively.





WOW, i never realized i had 300+ posts already.

Farm sector outlay up in Andhra Pradesh budget

Rural reconstruction and the farm sector in particular received priority as Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister K. Rosaiah presented the 2006-07 budget Monday with no fresh levies.

The Congress government in its second budget after assuming power has once again focussed on irrigation, allocation for which has been raised to Rs.100 billion, a jump of 51.15 percent over the current year's outlay.

Plan allocations for rural and urban development have considerably increased. "We have earmarked Rs.16.02 billion towards panchayat raj and rural development. And a sum of Rs.10.24 billion for urban development," Rosaiah said.

A sum of Rs.15.25 billion has been allocated for the welfare sector, Rs.5.66 billion for education and Rs.12.22 billion for infrastructure facilities.

The overall budgetary expenditure in the ensuing financial year will be Rs. 635.28 billion. The size of the 2005-06 budget was Rs.553.31 billion.

The financial year would end with a budget deficit of Rs.943.2 million after taking into account the closing negative balance for the current fiscal.

"The government is determined to continue efforts to project Andhra Pradesh as the most convenient and favourable investment destination for domestic and international investors," Rosaiah said, and announced that Hyderabad would host the India International Trade Fair in 2006.

The average per capita income in the state is expected to increase by 10.25 percent during 2005-06 and reach Rs.25,526.


the overall budget increase is pretty impressive. and the gov't is taking no chances with rural development. $2 Billion+ for irrigation is huge. but after years of under-investment, i guess it's needed.

but if i was to make this budget, i would:

1. reduce irrigation allocation to 80 billion (Rs. 8000 crores)
2. increase education budget to 10.66 billion (Rs. 1066 crores)
3. increase urban development allocation to 20.24 billion (Rs. 2024 crores)
4. increase infrastructure spending to 17.22 billion (Rs. 1722 crores)


so take out 2000 crores from irrigation and put that into education, urban development, and infrastructural facilities.


also, if anybody have the list of states with their per capita income, it'd be great.

AP bid to attract FDI bears fruit

The Andhra Pradesh Government has been on a relentless exercise to attract big foreign companies, such as Volswagen and Intel, to set up manufacturing facilities in the State.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/03/07/stories/2006030702941900.htm

hindu is not opening on my comp for some reason.

anyway, hindu is pretty accurate but there really hasn't been any news about talks between AP gov't and intel. or may be they're just keeping it down....

it'll be interesting to see where Tessolve comes up.

even im facing the problem to open hindu website..whats wrong

i think it works now.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/03/13/stories/2006031303290300.htm

Stage set for SEZ land acquisition

With the legal hurdles cleared, the stage is now set for acquisition of the land required for the Special Economic Zone in which the Rs. 6,500 crore-ONGC refinery forms part of it. The Kakinada SEZ Private Limited, the special purpose vehicle created for land acquisition, after overcoming all the initial problems, is getting ready to go ahead with the first phase acquisition from March 17. It has already set up its local office in Venkatnagar deploying a senior executive who has had over three and half decades of administrative experience in various key industries, to look after the land acquisition.

The personnel engaged by it include three retired officials, well-experienced in land matters, including an RDO and MRO, besides a land surveyor. Of the total 9,869 acres identified that forms a contiguous block, five kms away from the deep water port, spread across twelve villages, only 4,146 acres are proposed to be acquired in the first phase. This land is spread to six villages -- Nemam, Panduru, Thammavaram, Penumarti, Thimmapuram and Pandravada.

Direct purchase


Since the Kakinada SEZ private limited wanted to avoid further delays, it is understood to have decided to go for direct purchase of the land from the concerned ryots paying a flat rate of Rs. 3 lakhs per acre as against the Rs.1.05 lakhs proposed by the Government under land acquisition guidelines. Already several ryots had volunteered to hand over their lands agreeing to the price of Rs.3 lakhs per acre.

On the inaugural of SEZ office on Friday alone, as many as ten members of a single family presented their documents to dispose of the 15 acres of land in Thondangi area. According to SEZ private limited sources, offers were ready for handing over of 1,290 acres of land at Rs.3 lakhs per acre rate and the amounts disbursement would commence from March 17 in a big way.

The ONGC officials and representatives of Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Limited, and The Kakinada Sea Ports Limited, who are the consortium members, are likely to attend the grand inaugural of land purchase. "We want the local people to welcome the establishment of SEZ that paves the way for rapid industrialisation. As many as eleven industrial units would immediately come up generating a lot of employment opportunities. Our aim in going for direct purchase, paying higher amount was to avoid heartburn among the ryots, remarked an official of the SEZ.




great progress made. it's amazing that officials are moving so fastly on all these major projects. something that we rarely see and also something that is only evident in AP presently.

Anniyan: i just figured you have almost 3000 posts. what the fuck man??? how's it possible????

MPSEZ at Satyavedu

The State Government is finalising a proposal to set up a Multipurpose Special Export Zone (MPSEZ) on the Sathyavedu-Varadaiahpalem track in Chittoor district, in view of an enthusiastic response from NRIs to set up industries in the State.

Situated close to the National Highway connecting Chennai-Kolkata, the MPSEZ covers nearly 1,500 acres spread over 16 villages is being set up in Sathyavedu constituency taking advantage of its close proximity to the NH-5 and to Chennai as well.

The Government would issue the required notification in this regard shortly and would initiate the land acquisition process with a total financial outlay of Rs. 150 crores.

http://www.andhracafe.com/index.php?m=show&id=4965

very positive developments are under way in AP. offcials are on their heals. and there seems to be a sense of competition, which is very good. a large-scale industrial area is still lacking in our country. hopefully one of these proposed industrial estates turns out to be one which could attract huge investments.

AP govt in Rs 13,000-cr power deal

The government-owned AP Power Generation Corporation (APGenco) and Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) have entered into an MoU for preparatory project development work for setting up two power projects totaling 3,700 mw at a cost of Rs 13,000 crore.

http://dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1017029



AP is well on the way to become a power surplus state by 09-10. APGENCO is aiming for this and the several projects that have either started construction or under planning will lead the way to being power surplus.

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?storyflag=y&leftnm=lmnu2&leftindx=2&lselect=1&chklogin=N&autono=219108


10 IT parks get SEZ status in AP

The Government of India’s inter-ministerial board on Friday cleared proposals to accord special economic zone (SEZ) status to 10 IT parks in Andhra Pradesh.

Of them, six are proposed to be set up by private players while four will be developed by the state government through the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC).

Speaking to Business Standard, K Ratna Prabha, secretary, information, technology and communication, said it was a significant development that a quarter of the 40 IT SEZs cleared by the Centre belonged to Andhra Pradesh alone.

Among the six IT parks cleared for SEZ status in the private sector, three belong to Hyderabad-based Satyam Computer Services Limited, two of which will come up in Hyderabad while the third is proposed to be set up by a company in Visakhapatnam. The remaining three IT parks are proposed to be set up by Computer Associates, L&T and Raheja Group in Hyderabad.

The four IT SEZs proposed by APIIC that received SEZ clearance are – one in Hyderabad, two in Visakhapatnam and one in Vijayawada.

This apart, the Union ministry has also given conditional clearance to Ramky Group to declare part of the Vizag Pharmacity project as SEZ.

Other than the IT parks, the projects that received SEZ status in the state include the 200-acre Gems and Jewellery Park proposed to be set up by the Gitanjali Group near Hyderabad and the shoe manufacturing facility-cum-park proposed to be set up by the Apache Group near Tada in the coastal district of Nellore.

While the Gitanjali Group has proposed to create direct and indirect employment for 50,000 people through manufacturing operations in gems and jewellery park, Apache has offered to create 30,000 jobs over a period of few years. The state industries department has lobbied for the SEZ status to both these projects owing to huge employment potential they offer to lower strata of the population.

In Hyderabad, the size of the IT SEZs proposed to be developed are in 25 acres by Satyam, 26 acres by L&T and in 30 acres by Computer Associates, sources said.

It is for the first time that so many projects and parks proposed to be set up by private companies in the state have received the SEZ status. At present, there are two SEZs functioning in the state – Vizag SEZ being run by the government, and the other by a private pharma company in Vizianagaram district.

The projects or parks that receive SEZ status would be treated as deemed foreign territories, which enjoy several duty exemptions including a limited period income tax exemption besides other incentives offered by both the Centre and the state governments.

here is the list of some approved or in the process of approvment SEZs in the state:

Chippada, Visakhapatnam, A.P. ________________ Divi Labs (Pharma)

Hyderabad__________________________________ DLF Commercial Developers Pvt. Ltd. (IT)

Hyderabad__________________________________ WIPRO (IT)

DLF Universal Limited_________________________ Hindupur near Devanhalli, A.P. (Multi Product)

Hyderabad__________________________________ Gems SEZ

Kolthur Village, Sameerpet Mandal, Ranga Reddy Distt, Andhra Pradesh.____________ Biological E. Ltd (Biotech)

Lemarthi, Visakhapatnam District, Anhdra Pradesh_______ Ramky Pharma city (India) Limited (Pharma)

Bahadurpalli Village, Ranga Reddy District, Andrhra Pradesh ____________________ Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd (Pharma)

Madhapur, Ranga Reddy District, Andhra Pradesh___________ K. Raheja IT Park (Hyderabad) Pvt. Ltd. (IT)

Madhurawada, Visakhapatnam, A.P._______________APIIC, IT&C Dep't. of AP (IT)

Nanakramguda Ranga Reddy District, A.P.___________APIIC, IT&C Dep't. of AP (IT)

Shamshabad, Hyderabad_________________DLF Univeral Limited (IT)

Madhupur, Hyderabad__________________AP Techno Projects (IT)

Nanakramguda Village, Ranga Reddy District, A.P._____________Computer Associates (IT)


+3 SEZs for Satyam, 3 SEZs by APIIC







TN, Maharashtra, Punjab, and Gujarat have more SEZ approvals currently than does AP. Brandix, Fab City, Apache Footwear weren't even mentioned.
the Petrochemicals SEZs in Hyd and near kakinada and Vizag also weren't mentioned. the Skoda SEZ too is still in the planning stages.

Venkateswara institute gets 60 acres (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/03/21/stories/2006032102050700.htm)

The proposed Rs 60-crore project to construct the Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS), General Hospital and the Sri Padmavathi Medical College (SPMC), at Renigunta, near Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh has got a shot in the arm.

The State Government has decided to give away 60.66 acres of land free of cost near Renigunta, according to the Chairman of SVIMS Executive Board and Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), has committed to give Rs 30 crore for the project. SVIMS and SPMC cater to the medical needs of the people in the Rayalseema region of the State.

The Chief Minister also permitted the SVIMS to start construction work with the Rs 10 crore available with them.

after all, YSR has to do something for his own people........ to get their votes

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?storyflag=y&leftnm=lmnu2&leftindx=2&lselect=1&chklogin=N&autono=219541



Andhra plans to leverage competitors` infrastructure

Andhra Pradesh has not one but three international airports to facilitate the flow of investments into the state, chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy recently said while speaking on the natural advantages the state enjoys in terms of attracting new investments.

Apart from the upcoming greenfield international airport near Hyderabad, the chief minister was also referring to the other two international airports at Chennai and Bangalore in the neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka states as they are within two-hour journey from border areas of Andhra Pradesh.

The state administration was quick to take the hint from the CM. It has drawn up massive plans to develop thousands of acres of land in the border areas so that investors get readily available infrastructure to set up their units in the state.

As part of the execution of the chief minister’s strategy to utilise the competitor states’ infrastructure to its own advantage, the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) issued notification for acquisition of over 12,000 acres of land at Satyaveedu in Chittoor district a couple of days back. APIIC vice-chairman and managing director B P Acharya confirmed that a notification was issued for land acquisition at Satyaveedu.

While some of the remote parts of Nellore and Chittor districts are in close proximity to Chennai, bordering areas in Anatapur district adjoining Hindupur town are much closer to the new Bangalore International Airport. These places are already attracting the attention of investors, including realtors like Raheja’s.

Land acquisition in Satyaveedu is considered as a minor effort when compared to the similar plans contemplated for other areas. As per the information, the government is planning to acquire about 50,000 acres of land in Hindupur, which according to some, will take less time to reach from the Bangalore International Airport than from the Bangalore city owing to traffic snarls. Similarly, the industries department officials have identified over 25,000 acres of land at Tada in Nellore district which is very near to Chennai. It may be recalled that APIIC has chalked out plans to invest up to Rs 2,000 crore to acquire lands having potential for industrial development all across the state.

The state government has already tasted its first success by convincing the Apache group to set up its manufacturing unit near Tada as the place enjoys close proximity to Chennai and the Chennai international airport.

It is the first company in recent times to prefer Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu. The Andhra government offered a good bargain in terms of land and other incentives for the proposed shoe manufacturing unit near Tada, which is as good as Sriperambudur in terms of its distance to Chennai.

The government now wants to develop social infrastructure like hospitals with modern facilities and schools with international standards at Tada to attract more investors to this area where vast extent of land is available.

But, like any other programme this too has its share of problems. For instance, even though Hindupur is very near to Bangalore, the connectivity between the two points is still considered a problem. A state government official has gone to the extent of alleging that the Karnataka government has intentionally kept the Bangalore-Hindupur road in a bad shape.

According to him, previous efforts by the Transport, Roads and Buildings department of the Andhra Pradesh government to develop this road stretch in Karnataka limits at its own cost had not yielded results due to indifference shown by Karnataka officials.






DAMN!!! IT'S NOT JUST TALK.....THERE'S ACTUALLY SOME ACTION!!!!

http://inwww.rediff.com/newshound/showarticle.htm?rediffid=http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEU20060323100841&Title=Hyderabad&rLink=0

Quote:

State submits plans for 11 more water routes to Centre
Friday March 24 2006 00:00 IST
HYDERABAD: Encouraged by the Centre’s decision to consider declaring the water routes between Bhadrachalam and Rajahmundry and also from Wazeerabad to Vijayawada as national waterways, the State Government has submitted proposals to consider 11 more waterways and develop them for inland navigation purpose.

It was more than a decade ago that the State Government submitted proposals to the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) to sanction the Charla-Rajahmundry waterway (Rs 100 crore) and develop the integrated canal between Kakinada and Chennai (Rs 450 crore) with 100 per cent Central assistance.

However, in its communication few months ago, the IWAI informed the State Government that two waterways - one each on the river Godavari and the river Krishna - were likely to be declared as national waterways.

The feasibility study for both waterways was conducted by RITES of the Indian Railways.

After declaration of these two routes as National Waterways, the Centre through IWAI will develop them with its funds and also with proactive support of the State Government, the IWAI said and called for proposals to develop canals having depth of 2 m or more which were suitable for navigation purpose.

Following the IWAI request, the State Government has submitted plans for 11 canals for pre-feasibility study and they include Kurnool-Kadapa canal, Penna river, Nizamsagar, Jawahar canal, Godavari delta system, Thungabhadra canal, Nagarjunasagar Project, Pochampad, Vamsadhara, Somasila and Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme canal.

According to official sources, the Central funds would be utilised for strengthening of banks and bunds, locks, gates, construction of wharfs, river ports and jetties and develop infrastructure for tourism.

Once completed, the project would help in improving connectivity and serviceability of the fisherman to market centres and growth centres, increase in marketing facilities of agricultural, industrial and aqua products.

“Growth in rural economy will have direct benefits like improved access to health, educational, commercial and market centers,” sources told this website’s newspaper.

The waterways would also reduce transport cost and eliminates transport constrains, improve connectivity to ports with major towns and cities, promote tourism and increase in revenue due to inflow of tourists, sources said.

apologize for posting politics but this is very important for the state of AP.

http://www.dailyindia.com/show/11399.php/Separate_Telangana_will_become_reality_this_year:_Rao


Separate Telangana will become reality this year: Rao

Central Minister for Labour and Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao Friday said that statehood to the Telangana region in Andhra Pradesh would become a reality this year.

Rao also declared that he would quit the central cabinet if TRS failed to achieve this goal in 2006.

He told newsmen at Hanamkonda in Warangal district that he would return to New Delhi April 30 and come back only when the formation of a separate state was announced.

Rao, who is in the region to celebrate the Ugadi festival, plans to step up efforts for a separate Telangana with the support of both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress.

He claimed that with BJP president Rajnath Singh's recent announcement favouring Telangana, a bill in the parliament for carving out a separate state would get the support of 184 MPs.

The TRS president, whose party is a constituent of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, cautioned the Congress against going back on its commitment on the issue.

'Congress should not forget the fate of N. Chandrababu Naidu (of Telugu Desam Party). If it goes back on its promise, it will also meet the same fate,' he said. Naidu was trounced in the 2004 assembly elections.

Asking Congress legislators and MPs from the region to speak out in favour of a separate state, Rao said he would meet with some of them.

'The atmosphere was never so conducive for a separate Telangana,' he said claiming that more than 400 MPs would support the bill.

Rao had quit Telugu Desam Party and founded TRS in 2001 to revive the demand for a separate Telangana. The party fought the 2004 elections in alliance with the Congress and won 26 assembly and five Lok Sabha seats.

The demand for separate statehood to Telangana comprising 10 districts, including Hyderabad, is more than three decades old. More than 300 people had died in violent stirs in the early 1970s.



SOME 3000 cops in telangana region are being repatriated to their native districts in AP in a phased manner. all this definitely indicates that formation of Telangana is not far from reality. in the next couple of months some decision will be taken on this regard.

what does this mean for the development of Hyderabad and Telangana and the rest of Andhra as a whole??? honestly, i'm keeping my fingers crossed.....i hope the centre doesn't give hyderabad district to telangana.
if it does, then Telangana Rashtra Samithi better be good enough to handle such a mega city. the city has already become a major center for hitech companies. i'm sure MS, Sonia, YSR, and all others will remember this before taking any decision.

best solution, i think, is to make Hyderabad a 2-state capital like chandigarh. in fact, i'd say make hyd into a union territory and increase the boundaries of the Hyd so future development is not a problem. all this better be quick and it better be a good vision that won't inhibit the growth of the current AP state in general.


pls do add y'all's views about this. i'm keeping my fingers crossed......

Hyderabad is not ideally located for the city to be made the capital of two states. If it was near the border then there would not be much problem. i think either Visakapatnam or Vijayawada would be made the capital of Andhra.

http://i1.tinypic.com/s4qhw0.gif

Chandigarh does not belong to either state. Rather, the city is administered by the central government and hence classified as a union territory. Its very difficult to make Hyderabad as a UT, Telengana will not be ready to give away the city to the central govt.

obviously TRS is not gonna say we'll give away hyd and you give the state. it's a deal and centre should make it clear to Rao and everybody else that to gain telangana, they'll have to lose something. if that's not possible, then one thing should be clear. Hyd is nerve-center for india's development (along with other major cities) and these ppl are not gonna screw up Hyd with their petty and populist politics. for example, there should be no reservations for private companies and all that bull crap.

YSR has no intention of dividing the state and this is only an attempt in desperation by KCR to convince people that he has not put aside the telangana movement.

The GO 610 which is responsible for the transfer of several police officers to their native districts is only for their benefit so that they can serve in their native place and stay close to their families. Lot of police officers from other regions who were posted in naxal affected regions could'nt shift with their families because of naxal fear.


The way KCR comes up with deadline dates for telangana reminds me of a joke in eenadu paper, where KCR is depicted as a cuckoo in a cuckoo clock, that shouts "telanga in 6 months, telangana in 1 year".

So lets enjoy this a**h*** called KCR as long as he is in power, because after next assembly elections he is going to be history.

obviously TRS is not gonna say we'll give away hyd and you give the state. it's a deal and centre should make it clear to Rao and everybody else that to gain telangana, they'll have to lose something. if that's not possible, then one thing should be clear. Hyd is nerve-center for india's development (along with other major cities) and these ppl are not gonna screw up Hyd with their petty and populist politics. for example, there should be no reservations for private companies and all that bull crap.

i really hope what you said is right grimm. but what makes you think this retard is not gonna stay after the next assembly elections??? i mean, he does have a lot of support in Telangana.......

it'd be cool to see what he does when he goes to New Delhi and centre says telangana has to wait. he promised to not come back!!!!! i hope he never comes back.

i really hope what you said is right grimm. but what makes you think this retard is not gonna stay after the next assembly elections??? i mean, he does have a lot of support in Telangana.......
Yes pding, unless some positive development activities take place in the telangana region there will always be a political motive for seperate telangana.

it'd be cool to see what he does when he goes to New Delhi and centre says telangana has to wait. he promised to not come back!!!!! i hope he never comes back.
:)

I would like to know what my AP breathren feel.

You guys support a new state? Why or why not?

FUCK No.........No Seperate Telangana. I opposely this idea as fiercely as I would oppose giving Kashmir to Pakistan (may be that's a little extreme but definitely no new state). My parents are from Warangal and i'm a telanganite but no seperate state. it is not in the favor of telangana's ppl, hyd, and also Andhra Pradesh.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/03/27/stories/2006032707480300.htm
Quote:
YSR to lay foundation for Rajiv Varadhi on April 24
Staff Reporter
Four-lane bridge will be first of its kind to be built on BOT basis

Rajahmundry: Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy is going to lay foundation for new road bridge across the Godavari on April 24 before participating in `Praja Patham' in Anaparthy constituency in East Godavari district.
The Rs.478 crores four-lane bridge is going to be first of its kind in the State and Rs.400 crores are going to be invested by private agencies through BOT (built, operate and transfer) system and rest of Rs.78 crores are going to be spent by the State Government by getting full subsidy from Union Government.

Announcing this at a press conference here on Sunday, the Minister for Roads and Buildings, Jakkampudi Ramamohana Rao said that tenders for this bridge would be called in a month's time and it will be completed in coming three years.

According to Mr. Ramamohana Rao, the existing road-cum-rail bridge was constructed some three decades ago and the heavy traffic coming from this bridge is causing many troubles to Rajahmundry. In view of these problems, the local leaders have proposed new 15-km bridge, which starts between Kovvuru and Polavaram of West Godavari district. This four-lane bridge will be constructed 2 km in West Godavari, 4 km across the river and 9 km in East Godavari districts. After this new bridge, the R&B will only allow light vehicles like cars, buses and two-wheelers and heavy vehicles will be allowed through new bridge. Two tollgates would be constructed on each bridge and toll fees will be collected for 15 years. The new bridge will cut short the distance between Rajahmundry and Vijayawada by 40 km.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The four-lane bridge will start from the outskirts of Kovvur and go half-a- kilometre towards Polavaram side. On the Rajahmundry side, it will join the National Highway at Diwancheruvu near the city.

http://www.newindpress.com/newsheadlines.asp?page=a&

Quote:

Rehab package mires Gangavaram port
Monday March 27 2006 00:00 IST

VISAKHAPATNAM: The deep-water port at Gangavaram, being developed by a Dubai-based consortium is mired in a bitter dispute between the Government and fishermen of Gangavaram, Dibbapalem, Jalaripalem, Pedapallipalem and Chinapallipalem villages in Pedagantyada mandal.

Identified as a crucial link in the State’s ‘infrastructure backbone’, the Rs 2,000 crore plus project was envisaged to cater to the future requirements of industries coming up in the vast hinterland adjoining the Bay of Bengal. If it progresses as per schedule, commercial operations will commence by the end of next year (2007).

It will be a multipurpose port having facilities for containers, dry bulk, liquid bulk, general cargo etc.

However, the project continues to be delayed mainly because of the lack of clarity on matters pertaining to relief and rehabilitation package for the affected people. For instance, the departments concerned- Revenue and Fisheries are yet to arrive at the correct number of fishermen who will be affected by the port.

Moreover, the Government has promised to pay monetary compensation to each one of the affected families but it did not even show signs of releasing the money before going ahead with the port works.

Consequently, the fishermen are refusing to budge from their stand that the Government should first show them tangible proof of its claims to provide alternative means of livelihood.

As regards rehabilitation, the Government suggested to the fishermen communities to shift their activity to Yarada, while maintaining stoic silence on their demand for construction of a jetty at Yarada, compensation at market prices for boats, nets and other inputs, Rs 3 lakh for each family as compensation for loss of livelihood, jobs for youth and constructing a road linking Gangavaram to the proposed jetty.

As things stand now, the officials concerned are in apparent haste to expedite the project without making any commitment to the fishermen on the pretext that nothing could be decided now because of the Code of Conduct for Visakhapatnam-1 Assembly by-election.

According to Gangavaram port vice-chairman K Rama Raju, the company is ready to provide jobs to the maximum number of youths and for this purpose training would be given to them once the port commences operations.

A district official told this website's newspaper that the dispute required peaceful negotiations and the officials were abiding by the Government orders
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quote:

Air Deccan to launch flights to Rajahmundry
Sunday March 26 2006 11:33 IST

RAJAHMUNDRY: The long - cherished dream of the district is coming true from April 1, this year. Air Deccan is launching its regular flight services between Rajahmundry and Hyderabad from April 1.

Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy will be the first air passenger from Hyderabad in the Air Deccan flight. He will launch the Air services at Madhurapudi airport on the day.

Air Deccan will organise one trip from Hyderabad and one trip from Rajahmundry every day. The flight will leave Hyderabad at 9 AM everyday and reach Rajahmundry at 10.30 AM.

The same flight will leave for Hyderabad at 11 AM from Madhurapudi airport and reach Hyderabad at 12.30 PM. Air Deccan is introducing a 60-seater flight in the first phase.

After observing the density of air traffic the air services between the two cities would be increased. The ticket fare is Rs 1,038 including all taxes. Air Deccan has appointed the Reliance Web World as its agent to sell the tickets.

Rajahmundry and Kakinada are fast emerging as industrial and educational hubs. The executives of various companies have been facing problems due to lack of air services to Hyderabad.

With the introduction of air services, various public and private sector organisations like the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), GVK Power Project, Vemagiri Power Project at Rajahmundry, Nagarjuna Fertisers Company Limited, Godavari Fertilisers, Port will be benefitted.

At present corporate executives and other air passengers in the district have been going to Visakhapatnam to board the flight. The air services will help a lot for the development of the district
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

I would like to know what my AP breathren feel.

You guys support a new state? Why or why not?

Kronik,
This is a good question.
The question of new state or not is very much inter linked with the status of Hyderabad.

I would agree with PDING's comment #60. "Desamante matti kadoyi, Desamante Manushuloyi" (The country is made up of its people, not just the geography or the land itself) - Gurajada?

It is a fair claim to state that the Andhra people have worked equally hard, if not more, to develop Hyderabad till date. So, if the division of state is inevitable, then the Hyderabad (including Growth corridor area) must be made as a UT and to be made equally accessible to Andhra folks.

Part of Nalgonda and RR District areas may be made part of the Hyd UT, so Andhra folks can have a clean and undisputed access to Hyd thru Guntur district. Perhaps an expressway connecting Hyd to Guntur/ Vijayawad thru present Nalgonda/RR Dist areas would help. (Thanks to Anniyan - Pl. refer to map of AP in entry #59).

What do you think?

This is a bit of stale news, but I thought, I would share with you ...

http://www.thehindu.com/2006/01/01/stories/2006010105620300.htm

Quote:
Decision to set up varsity in Rajahmundry hailed

Rajahmundry: The Cabinet decision to establish a university in Rajahmundry has been welcomed by people, including public representatives, academicians and student unions.

Minister for Roads and Buildings Jakkampudi Ramamohana Rao has termed it "a victory of district MLAs, MPs." The TDP, the BJP and other political parties have also welcomed the decision and advised the Government to create infrastructure before establishing the university.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.thehindu.com/2006/03/05/stories/2006030506250400.htm

Telangana University at Nizamabad
HYDERABAD: The Cabinet, at its meeting here on Saturday, finalised names for the three new universities being established in Nizamabad, Rajahmundry and Kadapa.

The one at Nizamabad will be christened as Telangana University as it serves three districts of this region -- Adilabad, Medak and Nizamabad, the second at Rajahmundry as Adikavi Nannaya University after the great Telugu poet who part-translated Mahabharata into Telugu and the last one at Kadapa as Yogi Vemana University after the poet-philosopher from Rayalaseema.

A Bill to name the universities so will be introduced in the present session of the Assembly. Information Minister Mohd Ali Shabbir, later said that the Telangana University would have 174 colleges affiliated to it, the Adikavi Nannaya University 262 colleges in East and West Godavari districts, and the Yogi Vemana University 82 colleges, all in Kadapa district.

I belive TRS/BJP does not like more developments at Hyderabad or any Telanga towns. They wanted power now, don't care about public interest.

It is very sad to think about two states. Let us have each state per district :(

http://www.vizagcityonline.com/Vizagfeatures/2005/august.html
Quote:
… a colossal project is in progress, which will allow Boeing - 747, Boeing - 767 and Airbus -300 operate from this airport, which had modest beginning with Fokker Friendship (F-27) aircraft.

This Rs 195 crore project is a joint venture of Ministry of Defense, Air Ports Authority of India (AAI) and the State Government of Andhra Pradesh. The project initially went through some rough weather as there were objections raised by Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) on land acquisition for the project but the matter was finally resolved with timely intervention by then State Government of Andhra Pradesh. Now apart from the new runway, a new integrated terminal is also coming up at an estimated total cost of Rs. 100 crore. "The terminal is being funded by the Airport Authority of India.

On completion, the present 6,000 feet landing strip will be replaced 10,000 feet unidirectional runway, equipped with night landing facility, Instrument Landing System permitting all weather operations, a new terminal and an isolation bay for aircraft" said Mr. Suresh, General Manager, Airport Authority of India, Visakhapatnam.

The Visakhapatnam Airport runway expansion project ready to be completed within the stipulated period (i.e. December, 2006)", said Mr. M. Venkat Rao, the Chairman of M/S M.Venkat Rao Engineering Contractors the sole contractor, of this Herculean project. …

The new terminal will have all the facilities that are essential for a world-class airport. After completion, the new Airport can boast of the capacity to harbour at least six jumbo aircrafts. The present operators, Sahara, Air Deccan, Alliance Air, Jet Airways and other airlines will be looking upon this city no more for transit halts but we hope reschedule their flights to cater for a larger traffic.
-------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/06/27/stories/2005062700150600.htm
Vizag airport set to spread its wings
EXPANSION work at the Visakhapatnam airport is apace, to bring it on a par with international facilities, according to Senior Manager (Air Traffic Control) and Station in-charge, Mr T. Purnachandra Rao.

"A new integrated terminal building will come up at a cost of Rs 95 crore, with all modern facilities. It will have three aero-bridges, three escalators and four elevators, apart from a visitors' gallery, conveyor belts, digital information systems, cyber cafe, conference room, departure and arrival lounges, duty-free outlets, permanent Customs and immigration counters and tourist information counters," Mr Purnachandra Rao told Business Line.

The terminal is expected to be ready for use by the first quarter of 2007. "The 10,000-feet runway would be ready for operation by December 2006, as 50 per cent of the work had been completed," he said.

It would have an instrument landing system (ILS), apart from the normal night landing lighting mechanisms. "The ILS (also called the precision approach path indicator) would help the pilot to identify the runway even during bad weather conditions," he explained.

The approach to the runway would be from the seaside and, therefore, pilots need not go round the hills for landing and takeoff. "It is going to be a direct and straight approach without any sharp turns," he explained.

Aircraft would also be monitored and directed by a very high frequency (VHF) omni-directional Doppler radar installed atop the Dolphin's Nose. "Though the new runway will allow the landing of one aircraft at a time, the apron is being built to accommodate at least six wide-bodied aircraft like Boeing 767s and its equivalent variants at the same time," he said.

http://gannavaram.info/gannavaramflight.html

VIJAYAWADA (Jan 2006?): … Air Deccan proposes a new year gift to denizens of Vijayawada… The proposed flight will cover the circuit of Hyderabad-Vijayawada-Chennai…

Air Deccan began selling tickets for the 72-seat flight service… The service to Vijayawada proved to be making profit after the base of the aircraft was changed from Bangalore to Hyderabad. … The same aircraft is run to Tirupati, Visakhapatnam and Bangalore from Hyderabad.

Change of base resulted in the swelling passenger patronage. The aircraft, which seemed totally unviable for more than a year, turned out to be a profitable venture to the company also. Besides, the concession tickets and offers drew more and more passengers to its fold. Last two months witnessed so much of passenger rush that the company had to turn away at least 20 people trying for the tickets saying that there was `no room.' Air Deccan currently put Rs. 746 and Rs. 1,000 tickets on offer.

I have been a lurker on this forum for a long time and I'm breaking my silence to talk about an issue which is dear to me. I think Babji and his Andhra folks are quite selfish as proved by his comments. Just because they think that they will lose their hold on Hyderabad if and when Telangana is created, they are giving all kinds of weird suggestions such as making Hyderabad a UT. I think that it is absurd as geographically, politically and culturally, Hyderabad was never a part of Coastal Andhra and Rayalseema. The migrants from these regions may have contributed to the development of Hyderabad but that can never be the basis of their claims.

Personally, I want development of Telangana, more than anything else. If a new state is carved out as per the aspirations of the majority 3 crore people then that would be great. Smaller states have always been successful and I don't see any reason why Telangana wouldn't succeed as a separate entity. As for the talk of united Telugu land is concerned, i think its a hogwash. We are all Indians and that should be our one and only identity.

Jai Hind,

Kris Midas


Kronik,
This is a good question.
The question of new state or not is very much inter linked with the status of Hyderabad.

I would agree with PDING's comment #60. "Desamante matti kadoyi, Desamante Manushuloyi" (The country is made up of its people, not just the geography or the land itself) - Gurajada?

It is a fair claim to state that the Andhra people have worked equally hard, if not more, to develop Hyderabad till date. So, if the division of state is inevitable, then the Hyderabad (including Growth corridor area) must be made as a UT and to be made equally accessible to Andhra folks.

Part of Nalgonda and RR District areas may be made part of the Hyd UT, so Andhra folks can have a clean and undisputed access to Hyd thru Guntur district. Perhaps an expressway connecting Hyd to Guntur/ Vijayawad thru present Nalgonda/RR Dist areas would help. (Thanks to Anniyan - Pl. refer to map of AP in entry #59).

What do you think?

Its too naive to think..that partition is the solution for poverty reduction. If that was so, then this country would have had another 50 states. There is more politics going inside this movement rather than the requirement for it. Dont expect wonders to happen just because a new state is created.
If the Telanagana movement becomes successfull, tomorrow some one will start a Rayalaseema movement and next a uttarandhra or Kalinga movement will follow. Is this a solution for the problems?.

This is just a conspiracy theory but I think that the Maoists might have something to do with it too.

That part of the state is worst infested with Naxalites, and rather than crushing them, the state government is giving them more leeway, and media reports say there is a dangerous level of anarchy and parallel governence in that part of AP, parts of MP and Jharkhand. What i am trying to get to is that maybe they want more freedom to act, and a new state will give them that.

but this is just a conspiracy theory. We know we have had traitors in many state governments batting for the enemies. But hoping I am wrong, and assuming a new state is being demanded simply for more economic benefit, but given the quality of leaders in general, I doubt the new state will be able to deal with the menace effectively.

What those districts need is not a new state but more development, and greater balls from the Government to fight the naxals. More highways and universities are a step in the right direction.

Its too naive to think..that partition is the solution for poverty reduction. If that was so, then this country would have had another 50 states. There is more politics going inside this movement rather than the requirement for it. Dont expect wonders to happen just because a new state is created.
If the Telanagana movement becomes successfull, tomorrow some one will start a Rayalaseema movement and next a uttarandhra or Kalinga movement will follow. Is this a solution for the problems?.

Well said there, LS. Our country is linguistically and culturally divided
this should fade away in this fast growing economy which will enable
people's movement across the country and make it more cosmopolitan.

This should never be a political agenda to win votes, coz its too dangerous
in the future.

coming to who's gotta to do with what, let me tell y'all that Congress, TRS, Left or Communists, and everybody else has to do with this.
this is how Congress wins votes and expands it's empire.

coming to telangana, Andhra folks aren't selfish. they have invested heavily in Hyderabad and they have all the rights to say we want our share. and also, unless Hyderabad is a place where everybody is freely and equally treated, it can't dream to be a model city, much less of a global hub.

and fuck yeah, we all telugus respect our language and if you think it is just a hogwash that we want a united state for telugus, then you should not even talk.

this is kinda weird but i think Kris_Midas is a proxy member of one of the ruling parties or an ardent TRS or Congress follower who's here to spread his views and propogate it.

no hatred K_Midas.

http://inwww.rediff.com/newshound/showarticle.htm?rediffid=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1465984.cms
Quote:

Rs 12 billion paper mill to come up in AP

HYDERABAD: Hyderabad-based Whitefield Paper Mills Ltd will set up a mega Rs 12 billion paper mill in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for this purpose was signed Monday between the company and the state government.

It will be the first paper mill in the state to use imported wood pulp, for which the company has tied up with Elof Hansson Group of Sweden.

The state government will allot 250 acres of land for the project at Bayyavaram village near Kovvur in the coastal district.

The MoU was signed by T Srinivas Rao, chairman, Whitefield Paper Mills and Lakshmi Parthasarathy, secretary, industries with the state government in the presence of Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy
Rao hoped the project would get all the clearances by the end of December and achieve financial closure by January next year. The project will go in for trial production by November next year and start commercial production a month later...

"The project will be a totally non polluting industry as it will import the entire pulp wood requirement from abroad. It will not pose any threat of deforestation," the chief minister said.

The plant would provide direct employment to 1,000 people and indirect employment to 10,000. According to Reddy, 60 per cent of the product would be exported. He assured the company that the government would try to get the Special Economic Zone status for the project.

This will be the fourth paper mill in the state. The three other paper mills are in Rajahmundry, Bhadrachalam and Sirpur.

Industry Minister J Geeta Reddy said investment in the state had touched Rs 50 billion since the present government came to power in May 2004. The government had targeted Rs 100 billion in five years, she said.

As Kronik said, I have also read some articles about some kind of Maoists connections.

Yes, Pding. We all Telugus respect our language and respect ourselves. And we are proud of it. We should share this unity in diversity.

It was nobody's fault that Telangana region had suffered under the Feudal rulers (Moghalai, Quli Qutbshahi, Nizam etc) for hundreds of years. But now is the chance to mix with the main stream and learn to develop together.

What kind of "development of Telangana" is Kris_Midas talking about? Is there any plan? or is it just a political punch line?. Why can't some one bring out this development plan and have a fair and open discussion among all parties?

Who is stopping any one from development now? What is it that they can develop after separation, that they can not do now? Don't they consider development of Hyd region as a part of development of Telangana?

This looks more like a political stunt (conspiracy) than about development.

(Deccan Chronicle)
Quote:
Vijayawada, March 27: The Vijayawada city has got a grant of Rs 92 crore under Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission from the Central government for the previous financial year 2005-06.

Municipal Commissioner Natrajan Gulzar signed an agreement on Monday at New Delhi. Speaking to this correspondent, Mayor Tadi Sakuntala expressed happiness.

“The city could get this whopping amount after putting in lot of effort with the Central government. We approached the authorities with estimations but had to change them many times in order to get the grant. The amount would be spent towards underground drainage and water supply in the city,” she said.

Out of the total amount, the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation would bear Rs 27.6 crore, the State government contributes Rs 18.4 crore and the rest of the amount is granted by the Central government.

The VMC, in the recently submitted budget, quoted an amount of Rs 125 crore for city development for the financial year 2006-07 with an idea to construct flyovers and lay new roads. “We told the authorities that the city needs immediate facelift and is in dire need of funds. As quoted in the recent budget, we are confident that in the next financial year we would get Rs 125 crore to match the work estimate and the city would get a facelift,” she said.

Stale news, but hope to see some improvement in demand...

http://www.thehindu.com/2005/07/13/stories/2005071313550300.htm
Quote:
TIRUPATI: The income of Tirupati airport is not commensurate with the huge investments made on it a few years ago to upgrade its navigational facilities and passenger amenities to help it handle bigger aircraft than Avros and Dorniers it had been handling all along. …

ILS facility, too
Even as the airport is struggling to achieve the break-even stage, the Ministry of Civil Aviation is getting ready to introduce night landing facility from November and the Instrument Landing System (ILS) a little later to further upgrade the airport.

Even during daytime, hardly two aircraft land and take-off from the airport in the Tirupati-Hyderabad sector. While the private airliner, Air Deccan operates a smaller 40-seater aircraft daily, the Indian Airlines operates a 747 four days a week -- Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays...

even Hyd got some 330 crore. massive amount. waterways and new flyovers are planned in hyderabad. now V'wada is getting about 100 crore. hope they widen the major roads and build flyovers to improve the infrastructure of vijayawada by many times. this will surely bring in investment especially with YSR promoting tier II cities and an IT Park in V'wada by APIIC has gotten SEZ clearance.

the paper mill is great news. 1200 crore is not a small thing. it will generate employment as well as export revenue.

Looking at the Big picture, 5 out of the 7 plants proposed are in the border states of AP. If need be, AP can buy more power from neighbourhood. This means, AP could be self sufficient in power sector, by 2008-2010!.

http://www.deccan.com/City/CityNews.asp#Two%204,000MW%20power%20projects%20planned%20for%20AP
Quote:
Two 4,000MW power projects planned for AP

Hyderabad, March 28: The Centre has cleared the setting up of the 4,000-MW coal-fired ultra mega power project at Krishnapatnam in Nellore district in the private sector, Central Electricity Authority member, thermal, R.K. Jain said here on Tuesday. Mr Jain and a team of CEA officials met Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy and energy minister Mohd Ali Shabbir and discussed the modalities for setting up of plant.

The Chief Minister asked APGenco to enhance the capacity its own power plant at Krishnapatnam from 1,600 MW to 4,000 MW so that there would be two power plants at Krishnapatnam, each of 4,000 MW capacity. The Centre would call for global tenders for international competitive bidding based on lowest tariff. The project cost was expected to be Rs 15,000 crore.

“The power purchase cost would be around Rs 1.80 paise per unit,” he said. Mr Jain said it would comprise five units of 800 MW each and was programmed to be completed in four years, the first unit by 2008. Of the total 4,000 MW, Andhra Pradesh would get 2,000 MW. Mr Jain said the plant would require 1,25,000 tonnes of imported coal. Since a port was being developed at Krishnapatnam, the shipping cost would be reduced. The plant technology would be environmental-friendly with minimal carbon dioxide emission, he said.

The Krishnapatnam plant would be one of the seven projects proposed to be set up in private sector in the country, the others being in Gujarat, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. Answering a question, Mr Jain said the Union energy ministry would allow setting up of nuclear power plants in the private sector in the 11th and 12th five-year plans.

http://in.rediff.com/money/2006/mar/28port.htm

Quote:
Govt plans seven greenfield ports
...

The Centre is planning to develop seven minor ports in seven maritime states at an estimated cost of Rs 9,000 crore. …

The seven non-major ports include Azhikal (Kerala), Dharamtar (Maharashtra), Magdala (Gujarat), Cuddallore (Tamil Nadu), Gopalpur (Orissa) and Narsapur (Andhra Pradesh).

"Out of the Rs 9,000 crore (Rs 90 billion), the government will spend 33 per cent for basic infrastructure such as construction of jetties, wharfage, capital dredging and other facilities. Remaining 67 per cent will come from respective states and private players," said the official. …

AP has one major port at Visakhapatnam and two intermediate ports at Kakinada and Machilipatnam.
The State also has minor ports at Krishnapatnam, Gangavaram, Mutyalampalem, Bhavanapadu, Kalingapatnam, Bhimunipatnam, Narsapur, Nizamapatnam, and Vodarevu.

Visakhapatnam is the country's largest Major Port (44.4 mmt in 2000-01).

http://www.thehindu.com/2006/03/29/stories/2006032919360300.htm

Two-star Rail Ratna Hotel to come up at Vijayawada station

VIJAYAWADA: Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC) has decided to construct a two-star, budget hotel in Vijayawada railway station. Vijayawada is among the first five of 40 places in the country where IRCTC has decided to construct such budget hotels.

Budget hotels had been proposed in the first phase at Chandigarh, Madurai, Sealdah (Kolkata), Secunderabad and Vijayawada.

IRCTC general Manager Srinivas Nanduri said the corporation planned to establish `Rail Ratna' brand of hotels in 40 major railway stations in the country. The corporation will establish budget hotels in Visakhapatnam and Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh and in other States in a phased manner.

The Rail Ratna hotel in Vijayawada will be constructed in 3,500 square yard plot that was created after the demolition of Tarapet Goods Shed, said Mr Srinivas said. Customers can hire an executive suite for less than Rs. 1,000 at these budget hotels. The hotel would have 60 to 70 suites. The project would cost over Rs. 10 crores.

two power plants is definitely good news. hope they achieve power independence they're targeting for by 2010.

Yes. There is every chance. Then again, demand will keep rising. May be, they should start building Nuclear Power Plants from 2010 onwards...

Also, I hope that the Central Govt will come up with a better Central Power Grid (CPG), so any public/private company can generate power and feed it to the CPG. Then any public/private consumer can draw power from CPG and pay for it. There will be a Central Coordination Committee (CCC) to control supply, demand, pricing, sharing, load balancing and such regulations. That will encourage more private companies to build power plants. 3 or 4 neighbouring states can be members of the regional grid, so they produce, consume and share power depending on supply and demand. CCC will have representatives from producers, consumers and member states and the Central Govt, so there would be no disputes. May be, in the next 5, 10 years...

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/03/27/1496029.htm

New Zealand High Commisioner meets Reddy

New Zealand High Commissioner Graeme Waters today met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy here and the two discussed investment opportunities in the state.

Waters said New Zealand was looking for investment opportunities in the fields of Higher Education, Tourism, Industries and Bio Technology.

Outlining various initiatives taken by his government, Reddy said an investment friendly environment had been created and the state was turning out to be an ideal destination for investments.

A New "Industrial Investment Promotion Policy 2005-10", unveiled in June last year, was aimed at encouraging flow of investments into the state and strengthening entrepreneurial skills of the youth, Reddy said.

The government was also giving Rs 50 crore power subsidy to the newly-established industries and Rs 25 crore subsidy to ferro alloys industry and other sectors.

Several incentives are being offered and a law has been enacted for facilitating developmental activities in Special Economic Zones, the Chief Minister explained.

The Trade Commission Paul Vaughan and Advisor to the state government on industries Peter T Hassan were also present.



hope to see some investment from these fellas'.

http://www.thehindu.com/2006/03/31/stories/2006033118660300.htm
Quote:
Work to complete four-laning of NH-9 gets under way
· Stretches up to Ramoji Film City on the Hyderabad side and from Nandigama to Vijayawada have already been made into four-lane roads
· Four-lane Vijayawada - Machilipatnam road will have commercial importance: Collector

VIJAYAWADA: The two highways that crisscross the city and connect it to other cities in the State are in for major changes in the next couple of years...

... the NHAI has now begun the work to complete the widening of the NH-9 into a four-lane road.

Though the stretches up to Ramoji Film City on the Hyderabad side and from Nandigama to Vijayawada have already been made into four-lane roads, the major chunk of the road still awaits attention. ...

So is the case with crucial 66-km-road from Vijayawada to Machilipatnam.
The NHAI appointed Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick India Private Limited as a consultant to prepare a techno-economic feasibility report...

http://www.thehindu.com/2006/04/02/stories/2006040205860400.htm

Six greenfield airports on the cards
Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy inaugurates Air Deccan flight to Rajahmundry

RAJAHMUNDRY: Air Deccan, the low-cost domestic airline, on Saturday introduced a flight to Rajahmundry from Hyderabad. The maiden ATR flight was inaugurated by Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy at Hyderabad airport in the presence of airline MD Capt. G. R. Gopinath.

Arriving at the renovated airport to a red-carpet welcome, Dr Reddy announced a plan to construct greenfield airports at Karimnagar, Khammam, Kadapa and two other places in the State...

Hyderabad, a hub
The MD said Air Deccan would make Hyderabad a hub by establishing a world-class civil aviation institution to train pilots, engineers and air hostesses and provide air connectivity to all unconnected towns. "Orders for acquiring ATR/airbus simulators for this institution, besides 100 aircrafts for the airline have already been placed", he disclosed.

The Chief Minister gave his nod to allot 25 acres of land for the institution near Shamshabad. ...

=====================
News From Webindia123.com

...Rajasekhara Reddy said his government planned to develop airports at other key towns including Kadpa, Khammam, Karimnagar and Warangal.

http://www.thehindu.com/2006/04/02/stories/2006040210280300.htm

Visakhapatnam port retains No.1 spot

VISAKHAPATNAM: Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) has emerged as the first Indian port to cross the 55 million tonne and retained its prime position as No.1 port in the country for the sixth consecutive year. …

The annual incremental traffic of 5.65 MT was the highest ever in the history of the port while the growth rate was 11.3 per cent over the previous year, according to a spokesman of the VPT.

VPT established another national record in the monthly traffic by handling 5.65 MT in March this year. Also, the highest number of 2,109 ships sailed from the port in 2005-06. The Dock Labour Board too handled its highest traffic of 19.7 million tonnes during the period...

Other significant achievements were that the VPT won the Green-tech safety award in service sector for the year 2004-05, handled four very large crude carriers (VLCC) in the same year, and commissioned the 50-tonne bollard tug `Jhansi Rani' in September last year. Development plans …

The most prestigious project coming up at VPT is the development of LPG cavern facility, first of its kind in South Asia. This is being developed by South Asia LPG Co. Ltd., a joint-venture betwen HPCL and TOTAL and envisages mined rock cavern at a depth of 162 metres below sea level with a capacity to store 60,000 tonnes of LPG.

News From Webindia123.com
Mahalaxmi group to set up food processing park
Vijayawada | April 01, 2006 8:42:13 PM IST

The Mahalaxmi Group Private Limited will set up a food processing park at a cost of Rs.1,000 crore in coastal Andhra Pradesh.

Announcing this at a press conference here, its vice-chairman and managing director Y.Harish Chandra Prasad said the park would benefit the farmers to a large extent in the coastal area. Being set up on the lines of international standards, he said water treatment, cold storage, testing lab and food processing units be there in the park. He also said the invents prepared here would help to send to the food chains in the world.

The company would also set up 1,040 mw coal based project in Orissa and an I.T park in Hyderabad. For this Mahalaxmi group would work with Nava Bharat Ferro Alloyis (NBFA) private company.

great news. 1000 crore is a big investment. hope to see manufacturing units develop here with export concentration. will add thousands of jobs and add to AP's economy significantly.

Hyundai to set up R&D unit in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Automobile firm Hyundai Motor Group plans to set up a world-class research and development centre in Hyderabad and a manufacturing unit in Andhra Pradesh's Nellore district.

A five-member Korean delegation led by Lee Hyun Soon, Hyundai Motor group's president for research and development, met Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy here Sunday.

The state government has agreed to provide 42 acres as desired by the company for the research and development unit, said a statement from the chief minister's office.

Reddy directed that the team be taken to various places like Hardware Park and Gacchibowli and also be allotted land at a place of its choice.

The team also evinced interest in setting up a manufacturing facility near Tada in Nellore district.

Reddy explained to the delegation various incentives and facilities that the state government offers for new industries, and projected the state as an ideal destination for a manufacturing unit.

Lee said his company had produced 4.2 million cars this year and expressed satisfaction at the "healthy and proactive" industrial environment in Andhra Pradesh

http://www.newkerala.com/news2.php?action=fullnews&id=35710

THanks WillyWick for the wonderful news!. Hyundai's economy models will be a welcome news to the Indian markets. and Koreans do act fast. Hope, this news would make VolksWagon project in the state to pickup speed.

THanks WillyWick for the wonderful news!. Hyundai's economy models will be a welcome news to the Indian markets. and Koreans do act fast. Hope, this news would make VolksWagon project in the state to pickup speed.

:)

Tada is going to be hot in 4-5 years time. Smaller auto ancillary units in ambattur industrial estate (in chennai) are also looking towards Tada. If Hyundai finalises this deal, its gonna give a good boost to the region.

Absolutely. and NH5 connecting Chennai and Nellore, this will be a win-win situation for the region.
How far is Ambattur from Chennai, and is it connected to NH5?

TADA... Tada is in news again...

http://www.hindu.com/2006/04/03/stories/2006040312150100.htm

HYDERABAD: Hyundai Motor Group, a premier automobile company, is entering the State to set up its world-class research and development centre in Hyderabad. It is also contemplating establishing a manufacturing unit near Tada in Nellore district in the near future.

A four-member Korean delegation led by Hyundai Motor Group president, R&D, Lee Hyun Soon along with Vice-president (R&D), Yang Woong Chul, Executive Director, Hyundai Motor India, Chennai, Park Han Woo and Senior General Manager, HMI, Chennai, Woo Moon Man met Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy on Sunday and expressed their intention of setting up of a research centre in the State capital.

Welcoming the initiative, the Chief Minister agreed to provide 42 acres land desired by the company for its research centre. "Your presence will give a big boost to the industrial growth in the State and generate substantial job opportunities," Dr. Reddy said.

42 acres for R&D unit. great great news. i def didn't expect it.

http://www.deccan.com/Region/RegionNews.asp
Guntur to become textile city

Guntur, April 3: The cotton textile industry in Guntur district is all set to witness a major fillip with 30 spinning mills scheduled to come up around Chilakaluripet region. Industrialists have also submitted applications to set up ginning mills worth Rs 150 crore.

At present, there are 70 spinning mills in the State. The setting up of new mills in Chilakaluripet, Perecherla, Nallapadu and Kondrupadu with at least 6,000 spindles would certainly give a boost to the cotton industry. Authorities are also planning to set up a textile park in 200 acre near Chilakaluripet, where small textile units will come up. Apart from this, a cotton processing unit will be established between Nizampatnam and Bapatla ports.

... Guntur will become a textile city which may surpass Ahmedabad, Bhivandi and Coimbatore. Meanwhile, the Nizampatnam harbour will soon be given a facelift with an aid of Rs 10,000 crore from the Czech Republic. Chilakaluripet is set to witness more changes with a food-packaging industry and a chemical factory coming up. The government is also planning to establish a Knowledge Park near Chinna Kakani in 3,000 acre

Excellant Information - Thanks

knowledge park in 3000 acres. i wonder if it is the right place for a KP.

they're talking about an aid of 10000 crore. it's not an aid. it's Skoda's proposed SEZ.

the other stuff, i hope, is true. AP has lagged in industrialisation. this will def add to AP's dream.

Guntur, Vijayawada region is a major educational center. Many people will be happy to work close to home, even for a slightly less pay package. That is what these companies want to tap. I guess.

such a development can also act as a catalyst to help Vijayawada-Guntur-Tenali triangle to evolve into a metro!

that makes some sense but no big ticket investments can be expected immediately.

since there is a lot of talent pool in this area, if some medium sized IT companies come here and suceed in their operations then no doubt investors will start looking at this area.

the major advantage will be cost.

http://www.thehindu.com/2006/03/24/stories/2006032410280300.htm
--------------------------------------------------------
SEZ status for IT Park comes as a major boost

VIJAYAWADA: The granting of Special Economic Zone (SEZ) status to the proposed Information Technology (IT) park at Kesarapally has come as a major fillip to the project.

The Board of Approvals of the Union Commerce Ministry has recently cleared the SEZ status to the Kesarapally IT park along with other similar proposals around Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam. The State Government had already cleared allocation of 30-acre site opposite Gannavaram airport for development of IT infrastructure. ...

Yet to identify developer

Secretary to the Government (Information Technology) K. Ratna Prabha said that the Board of Approvals had given an in-principle approval following the effort made by the State Government to cut down the delay in developing an IT park through regular process.

"But we are yet to identify a developer for the project. We have not decided whether the AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) should do this on its own or whether a joint venture can be formed by treating land as Government equity," she said.

The IT Secretary said that the process of identifying a developer would be completed in a maximum of three months, and launching of work could begin in the first quarter of next year. ...

http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=286486&sid=NAT


Centre sanctions Rs 98.39 crore for urban development in 5 Andhra towns

The Centre has sanctioned Rs 98.39 crore for the development of urban infrastructure in five towns of Andhra Pradesh under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

The funds were sanctioned under `urban infrastructure development scheme for small and medium towns` programme of JNNURM of the Union Urban Development Ministry, state government`s special representative in Delhi Mallu Ravi said here today.

The five towns are Pulivendula, Kandukur, Markapur, Miryalaguda and Adilabad.

Fifty per cent of the total amount-- Rs 49.20 crore-- was released by the Centre, Ravi said. He thanked Union Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy for sanctioning funds to the state.

http://inwww.rediff.com/newshound/showarticle.htm?rediffid=http://www.myiris.com/newsCentre/./storyShow.php?fileR=20060405092545047&dir=2006/04/05&secID=corporates&code1=&code=

HPCL plans Rs 18,000-cr project in Vizag
Source: IRIS NEWS DIGEST (05 April 2006)
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) is planning to set up a Rs 18,000-crore project at Visakhapatnam. The project involves a naphtha cracker, refinery and petrochemicals complex, reports Business Line.

The Gangavaram Port project will also be involved in the project. The details of the above project were being worked out and an announcement would be made shortly.

The Indian Institute of Life Sciences (IILS) would take off shortly; the building and infrastructure are already in place on a 30-acre campus adjacent to the University of Hyderabad at Gachibowli here.

While Dr Reddy`s Laboratories has contributed Rs 10 crore, the State Government is also pumping in Rs 10 crore. Pharma majors such as Pfizer and Novartis were also being invited to participate in the project.

http://www.deccan.com/City/CityNews.asp

L&T may take up ship unit in AP

Hyderabad, April 5: The Rajasekhar Reddy government is wooing construction giant Larsen & Toubro to set up its ship building unit in coastal Andhra. L&T chairman and managing director A.M. Naik who will be in the city on Thursday will meet the Chief Minister and government officials to finalise the deal to identify the location, requirement of land and infrastructural facilities required for the project.

Sources in the Chief Minister’s Office said Mr Naik was looking for an ideal location in Tamil Nadu. And learning of this, officials of the AP Investment and Infrastructure Department convinced the L&T chairman to explore the possibilities of setting up the unit in Andhra Pradesh. They reportedly explained the facilities available in coastal Andhra, such as good communication network, depth of water and proximity to the port cities. Moreover, the AP government could offer better concessions, sources said.

The IILS is actually on track and actively being built. that's good. i thought it's just one of the futuristic plans of AP gov't. really nice to see this project progressing. Vizag is really turning into a manufacturing and export hub.

Telugu Desam to oppose SEZ in Nellore, Chittoor

After the Left parties, it is now the turn of the TDP to raise its voice against setting up of a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Nellore and Chittoor districts.

On Wednesday, TDP senior leader K. Yerrannaidu visited several areas in the two districts and interacted with farmers. He later announced that the TDP would support agitating farmers since the SEZ in the proposed area would deprive them of their precious agricultural lands.

Naidu said that TDP was not against the SEZ. "If the Government is keen on setting up a SEZ at Satyavedu, it could leave the fertile agricultural lands and instead try for 10,000 acres of forest land available between Mambattu village of Tada mandal and Rallakuppam village in Satyavedu mandal, as suggested by local farmers," he said.

The Government has recently announced that it would set up SEZ in Chittoor district. It has decided to initially set up the SEZ in an extent of 10,000 acres in Chittoor district and attach another 100 more acres in Nellore district for connecting the economic zone to the quadrilateral highway.

However, farmers in Chittoor district opposed the SEZ in the proposed area and had even organised protest dharnas several times. But, the Government has started making its arrangements to acquire 2,000 acres of cultivable land from local farmers of Chittoor district for the SEZ.

At this juncture, the TDP senior leader visited areas of the two districts and announced the party's to support for the victims.






i guess nobody really cares about environmental protection. in counties like the US this has become the next major issue while we are still saying we want to be farmer friendly and help a few thousand farmers over a short-term rather than looking at the long term.

i guess nobody really cares about environmental protection. in counties like the US this has become the next major issue while we are still saying we want to be farmer friendly and help a few thousand farmers over a short-term rather than looking at the long term.


Fishermen, police clash in Visakhapatnam

At least one fisherman was killed and seventeen others were injured in a clash between police and fishermen in Visakhapatnam today.


According to the sources, the incident took place when policemen tried to stop fishermen from protesting against the expansion of Gangavaram port .The police first resorted to lathicharge, but as the situation reportedly went out of control, they opened fire.


Meanwhile, the whole incident took a political turn in the southern state. The news of the police firing on fishermen rocked the Andhra Pradesh Assembly with Opposition parties stalling proceedings leading to adjournment of the House twice in quick succession.




:bash:

I dont understand the attitude of the people and the opposition politicians trying to object everything. There was problem in Orissa for the steel plant. There seems to be a problem with some SEZ'`s and now the Gangavaram port. Either it is farmers obstructing industrial developments, slum people stopping airport expansions, fisherman stalling port expansions.
I mean India is such a densely populated country, that where ever you go and need to allocate a piece of land for future developments, is bound to affect someone or the other. Its bad that everyone (including politicians) is looking for their selfish interests rather than the overall development.

The situation now is like.. You can either have development or else everybody else can keep hold of their respective lands/houses/shacks and continue living with their substandard living standards. Period.

http://www.deccan.com/City/CityNews.asp
L&T ship building unit may be set up in Kakinada

Hyderabad, April 6: Construction giant Larsen & Toubro is likely to set up its proposed ship building unit at Kakinada, if the agreement with the State government works out. L&T chairman A.M. Naik, along with a team of his officials met the Chief Minister at his office on Thursday and discussed its proposed infrastructure projects, including the ship building unit. Mr Naik asked for the government’s help in identifying the location, land and other infrastructure for the project.

Dr Reddy asked L&T officials to come out with a detailed report, so that the government could examine the issue of offering land and other concessions. “L&T has evinced interest in taking up certain infrastructure projects, including ship building. We have asked them to come out with a detail plan, so that further negotiations could take place,” he told mediapersons after the meeting.

The L&T chairman later discussed the issues with officials of the investment corporation. The officials reportedly suggested Kakinada as the ideal location for the unit and the government was anyway planning to develop the stretch betw-een Kakinada and Visakhapatnam as an industrial corridor. The Kakinada port is being developed as a deep water port and suits the requirements of the ship building unit. The town has the required facilities, they explained

http://www.thehindu.com/2006/04/07/stories/2006040722240100.htm
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Many development works to take off

ON DEVELOPMENT PATH: Multi-storeyed buildings and huge complexes set to give a new look to Mahatma Gandhi Road in Vijayawada .

VIJAYAWADA: Enthused by the sanction of funds under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission...

With the Roads and Buildings Department sanctioning Rs. 20 crores, glitches in the way of building Nainavaram flyover were cleared. The South Central Railway had sanctioned its share of Rs. 17.6 crores. The works would begin soon. The VMC proposed to incorporate the storm water drains on Bandar Road in the JNNURM. By May 15, the works would take a definite shape.

A notification will be issued for land acquisition in the first phase of Bandar road widening up to 120 feet...

The administration also decided to widen the phase-III of Eluru Road towards Gunadala side in the next 15 days.

Road, drain works

The VMC decided to complete the works of roads and drains in all the areas wherever they were required, including extension areas, as part of JNNURM. Ramavarappadu flyover and laying of 100-foot road in place of the erstwhile Satyanarayanapuram railway line would also form part of these works. While the consultants appointed by the VMC would complete the preparation of DPRs (detailed project reports) by this month-end, the corporation authorities were trying to negotiate for a bigger share in the JNNURM meeting slated for May 15...

News From Webindia123.com
Tender for Machilipatnam under finalisation: Minister
Vijayawada | April 06, 2006 7:45:00 PM IST

Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh today said the tenders were under finalisation for the development of Machilipatnam Port...

Andhra Pradesh accounted of 40 per cent of India's marine product exports so it can be developed as means of more employment generation,farmers were mostly depending on the marine products he added .

Mr Ramesh said the District Collector will prepare a three-year plan at a cost of Rs 40 crore to expand infrastructure for testing and providing technicial assistance for shrimp and prawn ponds...

Fifty-lakh new jobs will be created in the next five years in handlooms, handicrafts, horticulture, textiles, marine products and leather sectors, he added.

Work on Polavaram project in full swing

So breathtaking is the view of the moving mass of excavators and workers busy shifting mounds of earth from canal bed to bunds that passersby would stop for a while to have a feel of the massive `Jalayagnam' programme. When the canal as wide as 79 metres is being dug with the help of men and machines, the scene naturally stirs curiosity among the onlookers.

A drive down the Gannavaram-Nuzvid road makes you stop on seeing the awe-inspiring works related to the Indira Sagar Right Main Canal (ISRMC) near Gollanapalli village.

Once finished, the canal will link Godavari and Krishna rivers and the work is going on in full swing. Hectic activity is witnessed these days on the Gannavaram-Nuzvid road. Excavators, bulldozers, tippers and tractors are working at a brisk pace to form a massive canal.

The ISRMC enters Krishna district at Palleramudi village in Nuzvid mandal, and joins Budameru rivulet upstream Velagaleru Regulator. The natural course of Budameru rivulet and Budameru Diversion Channel will link the ISRMC and Krishna River.

The cost of excavating the 54-km canal in Krishna district is an estimated Rs. 653.55 crores. It will benefit 58 villages in Bapulapadu, Nuzvid, Gannavaram, Agiripalli, Vijayawada Rural and Vijayawada Urban mandals by creating an additional ayacut of 43,500 acres.

The work has been divided into three packages for administrative convenience and all of them commenced. The work should be completed by February 2007 as per schedule. The canal is designed to divert 80 tmc feet of Godavari water to the Krishna River upstream the Prakasam Barrage to stabilise its 13.5 lakh-acre ayacut spread over parts of Krishna, Guntur, West Godavari and Prakasam districts.

Over 2,000 acres of various kinds of land are to be acquired for the project. While all the 250 acres of Government land has already been assigned, only a fourth of the 1,800 acres of private land needed has been acquisitioned so far. Another 120 acres of forest land is needed for assignment to the project.

This project will impact the entire state directly or indirectly.
These four districts will be benefitted with adequate irrigation facility.
It will help save water, in stead of letting it go into the Bay of Bengal .
It could help as a back up/ emergency water supply resource for Hyd.
This canal can also be used as water transportation highway, connecting a large portion of the state.

I hope they will complete it in time and avoid cost escalation.

Oh Yeah!! thas the shit!

Now we are really seeing some work after all that talk for 100 years

wait.......has this project been under consideration for 100 years????

so, is this Andhra's version of the sethusamudram canal project of TN?

wait.......has this project been under consideration for 100 years????

so, is this Andhra's version of the sethusamudram canal project of TN?

isnt it a part of a river connection project that they have been in talk for 100 yrs?

isnt it a part of a river connection project that they have been in talk for 100 yrs?

It has been conceived by the great visionery from AP, Dr. K L Rao.
It has been kept on the back burner for various reasons including funds and politics.

oh yes, i remember. recently there was an article in Hindu about Rao's idea of the project which he first proposed during Indira Gandhi's rule. he died in 1986, i think.

Skoda Exports to ink MoU with Incap today

Czech-owned Skoda Exports will be signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Infrastructure Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (Incap) for the establishment of an industrial port complex at the port town of Nizampatnam on Monday.

The project, proposed to be set up at an investment of about $1 billion, would comprise four components, namely, port development, development of an SEZ, establishment of a urea plant and a thermal power project.

Besides being the nodal agency for the implementation of the whole project, Incap will also hold an equity in the Nizampatnam Industrial Port Complex Company (NIPCCO), the size of which will be decided at a later date.

Speaking to Business Standard, Sroslav Hubacek, CEO of Skoda Exports, said the company was expecting to complete all the formalities, including environmental clearances, required for the implementation of the project in a year from the date of signing the MoU.

According to him, all the four components of the project would be taken up simultaneously and would roughly require about 35 months for the completion.
Former state chief minister and Union industry minister Jalagam Vengala Rao’s son Jalagam Venkat Rao, who is the MLA of Sattupally, has played an active role in bringing Skoda Exports and the state government together for setting up the project.

The company proposes to develop Nizampatnam port as a multi-product deepwater port facility. Besides this, Skoda Exports proposes to develop an SEZ for manufacturing operations in 2,500 acres near the port and to set up a 5-lakh tonne capacity urea plant and a 250-mega watt thermal power project which would be scaled up later.

“This would be the first such project to be undertaken by us in India and we are certainly taking up it as a challenge,” Hubacek said while terming the state as the best destination for investments in India.

Skoda Exports is already thinking beyond the proposed Nizampatnam project, as according to its chief executive, the company is also keen to undertake the implementation of 950-mega watt Polavaram hydel power project in the state.

The government is expected to sign the state support agreement with the company after the submission of a masterplan and a detailed project report (DR) of each of the project components. In January this year on his brief stopover at Hyderabad, Czechoslovakian Prime Minister Jiri Paroubekhad had discussed the project with chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.

Vlastimil Lorenz, special envoy of the Czechoslovakian industry minister, expressed the hope that the Nizampatnam project would deepen the trade ties between his country and India and Andhra Pradesh.

He said the Czech government was aiming to reach $1 billion trade turnover in the next couple of years from the present $500 million. He accompanied the Skoda Exports delegation, which delivered a letter from the Czech Prime Minister to Rajasekhara Reddy inviting him to visit his country.

Meanwhile, Hubacek indicated that one of the Skoda Exports' associated entities was in talks with a Chinese company to jointly establish a ship building project at Hamburg, Czechoslovakia’s exclusive port facility in Eastern Europe, and would also consider Nizampatnam port for the same.

Nizampatnam, the historic port in Guntur district, is expected to transform into a huge industrial port with the proposed handling of containers, bulk cargo, including chemicals, cement, granite, coal, iron ore among other things. Skoda proposes to build three berths at Nizampatnam, one of which would come up initially for coal handling.



is this just the way things are or is this just YSR's luck.

all the projects that are being proposed in AP are fastly moving. the gov't is not delaying and the companies which are interested are also not delaying.

the 2500 acres of manufacturing zone is def a boom. the whole stretch from Vizag to kakinada and others near this can be developed into a major manufacturing hub.

now, L&T's ship-building unit too is going to be around Kakinada area, though and official agreement hasn't been reached on that yet. so if all the SEZ proposals of AP gov't become a realty and when these areas are fully operational, this area might be india's biggest and the most extensive stretch of manufacturing-powered industrial estate.

Quote:
"... the company is also keen to undertake the implementation of 950-mega watt Polavaram hydel power project...

...Skoda Exports' ...was in talks with a Chinese company to jointly establish a ship building project at Hamburg, Czechoslovakia’s exclusive port facility in Eastern Europe, and would also consider Nizampatnam port for the same..."

Thanks PDING! Wow! The Skoda Exports venture is setting up a new trend. its like a revolution.
I hope the Polavaram hydel power and Nizampatnam ship building projects will also materialize.

http://www.andhraports.com/

We still have room at Vodarevu, in case any other MNC like "Dubai Ports World" likes to compete with Skoda.

With Hyderabad being the latest destination for MNCs, corporates and educational institutes of repute , real estate rates are growing at an exponential rate. However aspiring house owners are confused: is it the right time to buy/build a house and reap the rewards or will the price bubble burst and leave them at a loss? Lets take a look.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1482487.cms

http://inwww.rediff.com/newshound/showarticle.htm?rediffid=http://news.webindia123.com/news/articles/India/20060410/302639.html
Team feels fishing jetty near Gangavaram port more suitable
Visakhapatnam | April 10, 2006 6:42:40 PM IST

The expert committee appointed by the government to study the feasibility of constructing a fishing jetty at Nallamaramma Patalu adjacent to Gangavaram today said it was more suitable than that proposed by the government at Yarada.

The team, consisting of noted academician Prof R V Rama Rao, former Geological Survey of India Director Mr Janardhana Rao and former AP Irrigation Department Chief Engineer Mr S Satyanarayana, today visited the spot, about 28 km from the city.

...they said the jetty, if built at Patalu, a long-standing demand of the fishermen of Gangavaram village, was technically and financially more feasible.

The team felt building of a jetty at Yarada or Appikonda... was less suitable. With less investment, a modern jetty could be built at Patalu, which would benefit both the fishermen community as well as the government, they added.

The Rs 2000-crore private port at Gangavaram has created a controversy with villagers being engaged in a long drawn struggle for a proper relief and rehabilitation package...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
yet another smart move by GoAP! hope this will clear the decks for Gangavaram port project!

Mini car plant likely to come up at Tada

The world's largest car company -- General Motors Corporation (GM) - is likely to establish its mini plant, Spark, soon at Tada in Nellore district.

The new unit will have the capacity to manufacture two lakh cars per year. Besides, the project is expected to create 4,000 jobs.

The plant may become the company's export hub for the region if it sets up its unit by 2007. Team members of the company have already visited the site thrice and have confirmed their inclination to set up a green field plant in Andhra Pradesh, according to a senior official.

Initially, the company held talks with five states and short-listed three -- Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Among them, Andhra Pradesh emerged as the frontrunner for the project, according to sources.

The State Government has already promised same kind of sops being offered to the Volkswagen, 300 acres of free land and an 18-year tax holiday, to the company also.

Meanwhile, Hyundai is also actively considering to set up a unit at Tada for a variety of reasons.

"The company has already set up a unit in Tamil Nadu and it is reluctant to establish another venture in the same State as it would be too expensive. Besides, sops offered by the Andhra Pradesh Government are more attractive than that of Tamil Nadu," he claimed.

Footwear units


Meanwhile, in a significant development, 30 footwear units have come forward to establish their units in Mambattu area, where Apache footwear limited established its unit.

The advisor of the consortium visited the district recently and held talks with officials on establishment of these units.





Hyundai is wanting to diversify it's foothold in india, location wise. that's prolly why they want to build one plant outside of TN. Tada area does look pretty promising. apart from Apache footwear, 30 more units is def good news. thousands of jobs will be created and lots of export revenue.

Wow! GM is Great news!!. They are in the process of a major re-org in the US. Plus, looking at the wording of this news, I am getting a feeling that GM will be the first to open their car manufacturing in AP.

Navy finds its shimmer in Eastern Naval Command
NewIndExpress Wednesday April 12 2006 00:00 IST

VISAKHAPATNAM: The Naval authorities are now focussing on developing Eastern Naval Command (ENC) in tune with its growing importance in the South Asian region that is poised to dominate the global maritime trade and defence sector to a large extent.

The strategic importance of Visakhapatnam has already been duly recognised and accordingly the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) is considered an operational headquarters responsible for implementing the Look East policy, which is seeking greater involvement of the Indian Navy in maintaining the balance-of-power dynamics with China.

Force-wise, the Defence Ministry has decided to strengthen the ENC. For this purpose, the Central Government has already approved the Indian Navy’s proposal to acquire as many as 21 warships by the year 2012 to augment the existing fleet of 60 warships. Most of these ships will be based in Visakhapatnam, according to Naval officials...

The expansion of ENC’s base in Yelamanchli and Rambilli mandals of Visakhapatnam district fits in this context as the much-needed fillip to the Naval operability on the eastern seaboard, which has 2,600 km coastline...

ENC has operational responsibility over the entire Bay of Bengal and extends to the southern Indian Ocean...

The advantages of Visakhapatnam that helped it in growing in stature are the huge dockyard, good depth of water suitable for submarine operations and excellent jetties.

Tada is getting lot of attention because of its proximity to Chennai!! Lot of auto ancilliary units from Chennai (Ambattur/avadi) are planning to relocate to Tada because of cheap real estate. Getting Labor might be bit hard I guess if they some how extend the Chennai suburban line(Gumidipoondi) to Tada it will be beneficial for both states,Tada can be promoted as a northern sattelite town to Chennai similar to Gurgaon/Noida to Delhi.
Tamil/Telugu are both are widely understood there, that is also a big plus, YSR is doing a great job.
job.

great news for indian navy as well as vizag.

Tada is getting lot of attention because of its proximity to Chennai!! Lot of auto ancilliary units from Chennai (Ambattur/avadi) are planning to relocate to Tada because of cheap real estate. Getting Labor might be bit hard I guess if they some how extend the Chennai suburban line(Gumidipoondi) to Tada it will be beneficial for both states,Tada can be promoted as a northern sattelite town to Chennai similar to Gurgaon/Noida to Delhi.
Tamil/Telugu are both are widely understood there, that is also a big plus, YSR is doing a great job.
job.

Well said.
I hope, extension of Chennai suburban to TADA will certainly become a reality soon. It willl be a win-win situation for the people of the region.

Now is time to think and plan for a Greater TADA.

1. a 2-4 lane ring road (with a large median) with 10-20 km radius around TADA will help things pick up speed!

2. Chennai suburban to be extended upto Nellore via TADA (wake up, SCRly!).

3. an express highway from Chennai to TADA to Nellore (NH-5 already in place).

these 3 steps can take TADA a long way. (schools, hospitals, moovies etc will follow as needed!).
Nellore, Ongole, Kadapa and Chittore districts can provide skilled/unskilled labor.

http://www.thehindu.com/2006/04/13/stories/2006041309020400.htm
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Elevators proposed at Tirupati station

HYDERABAD: If the Railway Board gives the nod, passengers alighting at Tirupati station will have the comfort of elevators to help them cross platforms.

D.N. Mathur General Manager South Central Railway (SCR) is considering passenger elevators that will help the weak-limbed to rise above the platform and cross over to another lift to alight by the roadside. Proposals to this effect have been sent to the Railway Board.

Board not too keen

Addressing a press conference to announce performance in the fiscal 2005-06, Mr. Mathur said he had actually included proposals to have escalators in Secunderabad first and Tirupati next on the lines of the existing escalator at Vijayawada. However, as a policy the Board was not too keen to go in for escalators, he said.

SCR has always been pro-active on improving passenger amenities, the Railway Officer said adding that on an average Rs. 12 crore to Rs. 15 crore was spent annually on amenities.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
they are careful not to mention how much profit they made this year (Rs. 1,646 crore operating surplus?).
who needs a board that doesn't improve passenger amenities? what did they do about MMTS phase 2 in Hyd?
what is the purpose of making announcements about things that the board is not too keen to go in for any way ?

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/04/14/stories/2006041417820300.htm
Rs. 545-crore works to be taken up in Adilabad

ADILABAD: Social Welfare Minister and Adilabad district in-charge D.S. Redya Naik on Thursday said the Government would take up development works to the tune of Rs. 545 crores in the district under the Indiramma programme. The programme would be implemented in three phases, he said.

At a public meeting at Hangira village in Tanur mandal as part of the Praja Patham programme, the Minister said the Government has sanctioned 75,000 houses for the poor in the district. 41,000 old-age and other pensions would also be given, he added.

Italian firm to set up Rs 600cr textile unit in Warangal

B Dasarath Reddy / Chennai/ Hyderabad April 15, 2006 (Business standard)

Giving yet another boost to the state government's on going efforts to attract investments, the Camozzi Textiles Limited, an Italian company, has decided to start textile manufacturing operations in Andhra Pradesh.

Coming up with an initial investment of Rs 600 crore, the company intends to set up an export-oriented textile unit in the state. A team led by Ettore Camozzi, CEO of Camozzi Textiles, today met chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and briefed him about their investment plans for the state.

Government sources told Business Standard that the company would soon acquire about 250 acres somewhere in Warangal district, which is in close proximity to the state capital, for setting up the unit.

The state government has already drawn up a comprehensive textile policy under which new units will get various incentives such as subsidised power among other things. Giving a go ahead, the chief minister assured the company delegation of all the support required for the speedy execution of the textile project. Sources said Camozzi would immediately start work on the proposed textile facility. :)

great news Babji. i just saw this article and figured you already posted it. 250 acres is no small area. textile sector is def a growth sector. it will bring in jobs. this is a very positive development, especially since this will be in the telangana region.

AP is inching toward more industrialised states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, and TN. this trend will def continue. Good job YSR!

News From Webindia123.com
AP govt plans to reopen Deccan outlet at Machilipatnam port
Machilipatnam | April 14, 2006 4:41:30 PM IST

The Andhra Pradesh government is planning to reopen the forming of an outlet to the Deccan at the Machilipatnam port with an estimated cost of Rs 2,000 crore, State Ports Department Director E Sridhar said here today.
The tenders would be finalised by the end of this month, he said...

...a shallow serpentine salt creek flow from Bandar (Machilipatnam) tidal lock of Krishna delta canal system and port activities here are taking place on the northern bank of the salt creek, about six km from the confluence of the sea.

He said the port's maritime history dates back to 15 century forming an outlet to the Deccan...

The hinterland of the port consists of the rich delta districts of Krishna, Guntur and West Godavari and several industries like sugar and cement are located in the hinterland...

... the port would be reopen in between Pedakaragraham and Manginipudi instead of the old port, he added.

News From Webindia123.com
International bids for Kakinada refinery in six months
Hyderabad | April 16, 2006 12:40:34 AM IST

Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) Chairman and Managing Director Subir Raha today said the ONGC would call international bids for the proposed Kakinada oil and gas refinery in Andhra Pradesh in six months.
Speaking to newspersons here, Mr Raha said the Detailed Feasibility Report (DFR) of the refinery would be submitted to the ONGC in June or july this year.

After receiving the DFR, the ONGC would call international bids for the project, he added.

He said the bids would be finalised immediately
---------------------------------------------------
this is the "...Special Economic Zone in which the Rs. 6,500 crore-ONGC refinery forms part of...", originally posted by PDING. its good to know, land aquisition is going on smoothly for this project.

also on cards: L&T may take up ship unit in AP (Kakinada).

Newindpress.com
Saturday April 15 2006 13:05 IST

RAJAHMUNDRY: The Roads and Buildings Department would take up repair and widening of 65, 000 km road under R &B limits in the State with an outlay of Rs 1,700 crore, said R & B Minister Jakkampudi Rammohan Rao...

20 RAIL OVER-BRIDGES: Rammohan Rao said 20 rail over bridges (ROBs) had been sanctioned for the State. The ROBs would be constructed at Kakinada, Tuni, Rajahmundry ILTD Junction, Rajampeta, Dhone, Yerraguntla, Renigunta, Aleru, Rajagiri and 11 other places with Rs 300 crore...

On April 17, a World Bank team will visit Rajahmundry to study the proposed four-lane roads, i.e. Kakinada-Rajahmundry canal road, Rajahmundry-Gokavaram, Dwarapudi-Yanam, Samarlakota-Kakinada and Dwarapudi-Kovvur road. The five roads were estimated to cost Rs 1,500 crore WB funds.

Again on April 19, the Railway and R&B officials would inspect the city on strengthening the rail-cum-road bridge, built across river Godavari. A flyover connecting the RCRB and Rajiv Rahadari will be constructed in the city joining Rajahmundry and Kovvur.

The flyover will be constructed at a cost of Rs 70 crore and the Rajiv Rahadari at Rs 550 crore of which, the entrepreneur will bear Rs 440 crore under built operate and transfer (BOT) system and the remaining Rs 110 crore (five percent) would be funded by the Centre...
--------------------- Kakinada will set sail to become the second major port in AP, with all these works!.

I can now see some special interest being shown in the Godavari Dists., but only after the discovery of new large gas reserves there.

Integrax replaces Dubai port in Gangavaram port constm

Hyderabad, Apr 15 (PTI) Malaysia-based port developer, Integrax Berhad, has entered the consortium to develop the Rs 1800 crore Gangavaram port in Andhra Pradesh.

Integrax has entered the consortium following the exit of Dubai Port International which was to have a 13 per cent equity in the project.

"We were unable to provide the 26 per cent equity demanded by Dubai Port International which resulted in its exit," D V S Raju, Chairman, Gangavaram Port Ltd told reporters here today.

As a technical partner, Integrax would have 20 per cent in the Rs 525 crore equity of the project. It had earlier developed two greenfield ports in Malaysia, Raju said.

"The equity holders of the port are Gangavaram Port Ltd (51 per cent), Andhra Pradesh Government (11 per cent) and Integrax (20 per cent). A US-based top most infrastructure fund will have the remaining equity," Raju said.

The project had already achieved financial closure for Rs 1170 crore funds through loans by a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India.

"The port has all necessary clearances from required agencies and five berths will be operational by December 2007 with 25 to 30 million tonnes capacity," Raju said.

For the first time in the country, the port would have a totally concealed, automated system for loading and unloading, he added.

Preference would be given to over 300 locals from Gangavaram for employment in the port, Raju added. PTI
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope the local leaders will visualise the big picture and help the project progress. Perhaps GoAP should involve the intellectuals and community leaders from the region to educate the fishermen of Gangavaram about the long term benefits.

hmmmm.....i guess DPW is havin' a rough time these days.

I think, DPW by themselves didn't have much to do with security breaches.
DPW is one of the most successful business entities in Ports business.
one way, its a loss for India to miss an opportunity to work with DPW.

I can now see some special interest being shown in the Godavari Dists., but only after the discovery of new large gas reserves there.
you are right. its not because they love Godavari Dists.
Its in the interest of the state and the country in the big picture. even small coutries like Singapore and Malaysia prospered mainly after they started strengthening/utilizing their ports to the fullest.

Newindpress:
ONGC plans Rs 710 bn investment in refining

NEW DELHI: India’s exploration major Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) on Sunday announced mega investment plans of over Rs 710 billion to raise its refining and petrochemical capacity to 45.5 million tonne by 2009-10, and development of special economic zones (SEZ) with private participation...

Unveiling investment plans that would see diversification of the company into several activities, including co-development of special economic zones in Mangalore and Kakinada, Raha said that the firm planned to raise refining and petrochemical capacity from 9.69 million tonne in 2003 to 45.5 million tonne annually by 2009-10.

Two other refineries proposed include a 7.5 million tonne capacity unit at Kakinada SEZ in Andhra Pradesh and another 7.5-million-tonne refinery at Barmer in Rajasthan, both involving an investment of Rs 90 billion each.

...new finds...
‘‘The five deep-water finds are in the Krishna-Godavari basin in a block ONGC had acquired from Cairn Energy in 2003-04,’’ he said
------------------------------------------ looking bright!

Dasapalla Group`s Hyd hotel venture may be delayed
V D S Rama Raju / Chennai/ Visakhapatnam April 18, 2006

... The group currently operates three hotels with a total 226-room strength, and two restaurants at Viskahapatnam and Kakinada.
About two years back, the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation had allotted about one acre of land to Daspalla Group to set up a 110-room three-star hotel in Hyderabad at an investment of Rs 20 crore...

Apart from clearing about Rs 2 crore debts, the group earned a net profit of about Rs 2.10 crore and achieved a turnover of about Rs 21.10 crore in 2005-06 as compared to Rs 18.60 crore in the previous year.

“Despite loss of business for two-three months in the wake of tsunami and cancellation of flight services for several days due to the inundation of Vizag airport, we achieved a turnover of Rs 11 crore from Vizag Daspalla Hotel in 2005-06 as compared to Rs 10 crore in the preceding year,” Raghavendra Rao said.

At the same time, the occupancy rate in Jaya Residency of Kakinada increased significantly because of industrial growth in the area, he said...

ONGC's strategy looks pretty good. 9.5 to 45.5 million tonnes in just 3 years' time is pretty ambitious and it seems like they're confident they can do it. very promising. the region from kakinada to Vizag and even uptil srikakulam could be developed into a massive manufacturing hub. and the State Gov't seems to have realized the potential in this area especially with a major port that is undergoing some big upgradation plans and minor ports that are also being modernised, along with the Gangavaram port.

there is also a lot of land mass available in the form of small hillocks.
there is a lot of scope for manufacturing units.
I hope the GoAP will do some quick fix to train unskilled labor, so there won't be much resistance for industries.

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/04/19/stories/2006041913900400.htm
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APMDC ties up with Swiss firm

HYDERABAD: After firming up the proposals of major investments in the Fab City and port development, the State Government is eyeing the untapped potential in the mining sector.

The Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation has signed a memorandum of understanding with M/s Bothli Trade AG of Switzerland for setting up of mining and mineral separation plant for beach sand mining. Likely to be located at Bhogapuram mandal of Vizianagaram district, the total capital outlay of the project is about Rs. 4,500 crores and the turnover after the completion of the final stage is expected to be around Rs. 18,000 crores.

As part of the MoU signed in the presence of the Chief Minister, Bothli AG would invest around Rs. 70 to 90 crores in the first phase and APMDC would hold an equity of 26 per cent (11 per cent by way of mining sub-lease and 15 per cent to be adjusted against the payment of consideration amount till full payment of providing infrastructure). The APMDC would allocate more than 8,000 hectares from Lawson Bay in Visakhapatnam to Koyyam in Vizianagaram and from Bendicreek to Barua and Donkuru deposit of Srikakulam district

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1025232

Rs. 2500 crore is huge investment. they seem professional and also are on talks with internatioanl players. hope to see other firms set up their units here too. lots of jobs will be created. 1000 acres is pretty damn huge. prolly the single largest textile park in the country yet.

Nag: i posted this here b/c it's more appropriate in the AP thread than in Hyderabad Projects thread.

Viceroy Hotels on Rs 800-cr expansion spree

Hyderabad: Hyderabad-based Viceroy Hotels has embarked on a Rs 800-crore expansion plan to set up hotels in Chennai, Bangalore, Vizag and add one more hotel in Hyderabad. The total investment for the expansion plan will be raised through a combination of debt and equity.

“About one-third of the funds would be raised through equity and the rest via debt,” Viceroy Hotels vice-president Ravi Krishnan told ET. The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Enterprise (ADAE) has recently picked up about 6% stake in the company while investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has picked up about 13.5%. Mr Jhunjhunwala is also on the company’s board of directors. A couple of London-based firms have also picked up stake in the company, he said.

On April 10 , Viceroy Hotels had approved a proposal to offer 40,25,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each at a premium of Rs 90 per share to promoters and other strategic investors. It had also cleared the issue of 74,75,000 warrants convertible into equivalent equity shares of Rs 10 each at a premium of Rs 90 per share within 18 months from the date of allotment to promoters and other strategic investors, according to information with the BSE.

Viceroy would soon be known as Marriott Hyderabad as a result of its management tie-up with the latter. Marriott has been managing the Viceroy Hotel since January 15. “Philip Spencer has taken over as the general manager and has been running the hotel with his team,” says Mr Krishnan.

Viceroy has been in a tie-up with Marriott since 2002 and its first project was the renovation of Viceroy Hotel in Hyderabad. The hotel has invested Rs 80 crore on renovation and is also setting up a budget category hotel called Courtyard, a Marriot Group brand. The hotel group has also taken up five and half acres in Chennai.

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1025232

Rs. 2500 crore is huge investment. they seem professional and also are on talks with internatioanl players. hope to see other firms set up their units here too. lots of jobs will be created. 1000 acres is pretty damn huge. prolly the single largest textile park in the country yet.


Wow! this is like a town by itself.
this will help many unskilled/semi-skilled people to get trained and earn a good living.

Satyam becomes billion-dollar company
Statesman News Service
HYDERABAD, April 21: Satyam Computer has become the first company from Andhra Pradesh to cross the $1-billion mark in terms of revenue. The company today announced a bonus issue of 1:1.
“This (crossing $1 billion) is a significant landmark for Satyam. We are proud to be the youngest IT company and the first from AP to achieve this distinction”, Satyam’s chairman Mr B Ramalinga Raju said.

Satyam posted a rise of 35.9 per cent in net profit at Rs 289.9 crore for the quarter ending 31 March. Total income increased by 31.56 per cent to Rs 1,287.5 crore during the period...

... The company added more than 3,000 employees in the third quarter of last financial year to take its total workforce to more than 26,500.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Congrats to team Satyam! its a proud moment for the home grown IT major!!

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?storyflag=y&leftnm=lmnu1&leftindx=1&lselect=1&chklogin=N&autono=212329

Skoda Export proposes Rs 10,000cr SEZ at Nizampatnam

Czechoslovakia’s Skoda Export Company Limited is back after a gap of decades with a Rs 10,000 crore investment proposal, which involves setting up of a port-based industrial city project in the state.

The company is credited with the establishment of Navratnas like BHEL and Visakhapatnam Steel Plant by providing technology for the turbo generator set manufacturing facility and the steel-rolling mill in Andhra Pradesh.

Czechoslovakian Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek, who was in Hyderabad, met chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy on Thursday. His short trip, in fact, amplified the significance of the investment proposed by Skoda Export at Nizampatnam, a minor port in Guntur district.

With the ground work for a possible MoU ready, Skoda Export Company’s chairman and chief executive J Hubacek, who led the business delegation that accompanied the Czech premier, gave a presentation of the project.

The company proposes to establish a port-based multi-product special economic zone (SEZ) at Nizampatnam, which will include a urea plant, a 1,000-megawatt thermal power plant and an LNG terminal with the collaboration of a local oil company, according to Anish Reddy, director, Skoda (India) Private Limited.

Skoda Export Company acts as an EPC (engineer-procure-construct) contractor for investment capital projects like thermal and hydro power stations, chemical plants, metallurgy plants among others. Volkswagen’s Skoda Auto division was originally with Skoda Export before it was sold to the German car major.

The company’s selection of Nizampatnam port, which so far has no significant operations, is a result of an evolution of its initial proposal of setting up of a thermal power plant in the coal-rich Sattupally in Khammam district.

“Initially, I lobbied with the company just to get investments to my constituency. But later, I was convinced of its keenness to take up a much bigger project for the state and worked for its realisation,” Jalagam Venkat Rao, Sattupally MLA, and son of former chief minister late Jalagam Vengala Rao, told Business Standard.

Anish Reddy termed the selection of Nizampatnam as a wise choice. “Nizampatnam is more economical for exporters of iron ore, granite, cement among other products,” he said.

Once both the governments enter into a formal understanding, a detailed project report along with the possible local collaboration is expected to be finalised. According to Anish Reddy, the company wants to start the work on the project within a year’s time.

The state government is expected to sign the MoU with Skoda Export Company sometime next month when the Czechoslovakia Republic’s industries and commerce minister visits Hyderabad.

The state government is also keen to convince Tatra, the Czechoslovakian auto company, which produces a wide range of heavy-duty off-road trucks, to set up its unit in the state, Anish Reddy said.

namaste from Slovakia to my indian friends :))
also namaste from indian community in Slovakia, Bratislava to you

Czechoslovakia split into two countries before 13 years already. We are now Czech republic and Slovakia.

btw india is doing very well :cheers: i always watch your indian subforum for projects in india....

Bratislava, to you too Alien. nice to see you here.

Namaste! and Swagatham (Welcome) Alien!!
btw how big is the indian community in Slovakia, Bratislava?
do you get to see indian tv channels/moovies?

webindia123.com
Leather laboratory to be set up in Nellore: Minister
Hyderabad | April 22, 2006 5:33:26 PM IST

Union Minister of State for Industry Aswani Kumar today said a world class Leather Laboratory would be set up at Nellore.

Talking to newspersons here, he said a Leather Park would also be established in Nellore.

Mr Kumar said Centre has allocated Rs 30 crore, while State Government had sanctioned Rs 20 crore to develop infrastructure at Leather park. The Government would invite tenders to develop infrastructure at the park, which was being established in 450 acres of land, he added.

Stating that another Leather park would be established in Medak district, State Major Industries and Tourism Minister J Geeta Reddy said Rs 600 crore had been allocated to develop Pharma city at Visakhapatnam.
Ms Reddy said Andhra Pradesh State Finance Corporation (APSFC) had earned Rs 24 crore profit during last year and the Centre had allocated Rs 30 crore for APSFC.

Bratislava, to you too Alien. nice to see you here.

no, bratislava is our capital, where i live :)

Namaste! and Swagatham (Welcome) Alien!!
btw how big is the indian community in Slovakia, Bratislava?
do you get to see indian tv channels/moovies?

i am not indian, but i know indians living here. indian community isnt very big. maybe several hundrets here. As i know in Bratislava we have three indian restaurants and also some shop with indian spices and asian vegetables. Indians watch here over the sattelite zee tv, zee cinema and zee music.

Alien, Greetings to you from all of us and on behalf of all our friends.
its good to know that you like to understand india related developments and stuff.
in case you like some comedy pics, please see the following link (india > chaibar > Funny pics from India)
http://skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=196215
india being a democratic country, there are too many constraints for industrial development. luckily, things are changing (with economic reforms) and with the help of some friendly nations.

I guess Bratislava is a big city. The Tatras are beutiful mountains.
have you ever tried tandoori chicken at the indian restaurant?.

oops! made a mistake. sry.

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/04/23/stories/2006042318480100.htm
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Five industrial clusters to come up in State

HYDERABAD: Union Minister of State for Industries Ashwini Kumar has said that the Centre has cleared proposals to establish five specialised industrial clusters in Andhra Pradesh...

The Union Minister said two such clusters comprising the pharmaceutical sector at Visakhapatnam and auto components cluster at Vijayawada had already been approved. Clearance had been issued to marine food processing cluster at Bhimavaram, powerloom cluster at Sircilla, leather cluster at Bhongir, pecision tool cluster in Ranga Reddy and coir product cluster in West Godavari district...

The Union Minister said an integrated leather complex with world-class facilities was planned between Chennai and Nellore in Andhra Pradesh on 415 acres...

this is def a great news. the auto components cluster is pretty promising and the precision tool area too is pretty good. since Hyd is emerging as an electronics hub, this is going to attract many more investments in electronic manufacturing and also R&D.

http://www.deccan.com/Region/RegionNews.asp#Agriculture%20university%20for%20Gudem
Agriculture university for Gudem

Tadepalligudem, April 23: Eluru MP Kavuri Sambasiva Rao said that Tadepalligudem would soon have an agriculture university. ... he said Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy agreed for the proposal...

...several people’s representatives appealed to the Chief Minister to set up the agriculture or horticulture or veterinary university at Tadepalligudem... He said out of the three, veterinary university stands a fair chance.

Mr Sambasiva Rao that the veterinary centre at Venkataramannagudem in the suburbs of Tadepalligudem has sufficient place to start the university.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
may be, they should also think of some Dairy Devl Units, to help sustain the infrastructure development.

News From Webindia123.com
EID Parry, Cargill plan JV, to build Sugar Refinery in Kakinada
Mumbai | April 24, 2006 8:30:51 PM IST

EID Parry India Ltd, a Murugappa Group enterprise and Cargill International S.A. have announced their plans to enter into a joint venture to set up a port-based stand-alone sugar refinery in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh.
Announcing this to BSE, EID Parry said the joint venture will be setting up the refinery close to the Kakinada port with an ultimate capacity to produce one million tons of refined sugar per year, this refinery will be the largest in the South Asian region.

The refinery will be a processing operation, importing the entire raw material, raw sugar, adding value by refining it, and exporting its production. It will have an integrated cogeneration system to take care of its steam and power requirements.

EID Parry will hold 51 per cent stake and Cargill 49 per cent in the joint venture, which is being structured as an export oriented unit (EOU) or located in a special economic zone (SEZ). The investment is estimated at Rs 325 crore (about USD 72 million) and the plant is expected to be commissioned by December 2007.

The refinery will bring foreign exchange earnings to tune of Rs 150 crore a year into the country. Increased utilisation of the Kakinada port and significant economic benefits to the local and regional areas of Andhra Pradesh are expected to arise out of the refinery operations...

RIL may invest Rs 5000 cr in gas projects (http://in.rediff.com/money/2006/apr/25rel.htm)


Reliance Industries Ltd plans to invest over Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) in setting up City Gas Distribution projects in eight cities in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh for supply of natural gas to households, industries and automobiles.

Reliance wants to set up CGD networks in Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Vijayawada, Nalgonda and Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh and Sholapur, Pune and Thane in Maharashtra to supply natural gas through pipes to households for use as cooking fuel, the company said in a proposal to the petroleum ministry.

It also plans to supply gas, sourced from its gigantic field in Bay of Bengal, to commercial consumers likes hotels, restaurants and hospitals and industries and automobiles (in the form of Compressed Natural Gas or CNG).

The company said Dhirubhai-1 and Dhirubhai-3 discoveries in KG-DWN-98/3 (or KG-D6) block off the Andhra coast would produce 40 milion standard cubic meters per day from mid-2008 and CGD projects, once allocated to Reliance, would begin rolling out from 2008-09 fiscal end.

Reliance has received approval for the East-West pipeline -- Kakinada-Hyderabad-Uran-Ahmedabad pipeline -- to transport the KG-D6 gas.

Reliance plans to supply 8 million standard cubic meters of gas per day to Visakhapatnam, Kakinada (0.4 mmscmd), Vijayawada (0.8 mmscmd), Nalgonda (0.3 mmscmd) and Hyderabad (1.2 mmscmd) in Andhra Pradesh and Sholapur (0.4 mmscmd), Pune (1 mmscmd) and Thane (3 mmscmed) in Maharashtra, the proposal said.
Spur lines connecting East-West pipeline to eight cities proposed for CGD would cost about Rs 900 crore (Rs 9 billion), Reliance said, adding the total cost of City Gas Distribution project in these cities was likely to be in the range of Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion).

Spur lines of 145-km to Visakhapatnam, 40-km to Kakinada, 39-km to Vijayawada, 26-km to Nalgonda, 15-km to Hyderabad, 60-km to Sholapur, 20-km to Pune and 32-km to Thane are planned from the East-West pipeline.

"The transmission pipeline from Kakinada to Ahmedabad for supply of gas would be laid in synchronisation with production from KG-D6 which is scheduled from mid 2008," the company said. Spur lines would be laid by 2008-09.

"The city gas projects have longer gestation period. However, supply of gas could be introduced in the city by 2008-09 from basic grid to industrial consumers and Mother CNG stations.

Distribution network may take 3 to 5 years to cover the area including domestic/commercial consumers," the proposal said.

Reliance was keen to supply gas to bulk consumers in core sectors like power and fertiliser by laying dedicated
spur lines to these plants.

Andhra Pradesh 51 per cent growth rate in software exports. (http://in.rediff.com/money/2006/apr/25it.htm)


India's software and IT-enabled services exports shot up by 36 per cent to clock revenues of over Rs 100,000 crore (nearly $22 billion) in 2005-06, riding on the success on global delivery model, strong human resource and robust expansion plans.
Members registered with the Software Technology Parks of India have exported software of over Rs 1,00,809 crore (Rs 1008.09 billion) or $22.47 billion by the end of 2005-06, against the total exports of Rs 74,019 crore (Rs 740.19 billion) in 2004-05, according to an official statement here.

The highest exports by STPI registered units were from the state of Karnataka at Rs 37,000 crore (Rs 370 billion), showing a growth rate of 34 per cent followed by Maharashtra at Rs 15,500 crore (Rs 155 billion), a growth rate of also 34 per cent and Tamil Nadu at Rs 13,960 crore (Rs 139.60 billion).

Andhra Pradesh has posted the maximum growth rate in software exports at 51 per cent by touching a revenue of Rs 1,25,000 crore (Rs 1250 billion).

Software companies registered with STPs in Haryana, UP, Delhi, West Bengal and Orissa have also posted strong growth.

Except Kerala, which has posted a growth of just 10 per cent, all other states have performed well, as the statement lists the growth percentage.

Industry body Nasscom had forecast for the 2005-06 fiscal a 30-32 per cent growth in IT and ITeS exports which is expected to touch $22.5 billion.

Indian software industry is targeting an export target of $50 billion in 2008-09. More than 6,000 units are registered under STPI umbrella, out of which more than 4,200 units have exported software in 2005-06.



Can someone give the current IT revenues of individual states?

it might be 125 billion INR

http://inwww.rediff.com/newshound/ap.html
Software exports cross Rs 1,00,809 crore mark

Created on : 04/25/2006 5:18:53 PM (NORMAL ) (UNI)

New Delhi, Apr 25 (UNI) Member units of Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) have exported software of over Rs 1,00,809 crore estimated by the end of financial year 2005-2006.

The total exports by STP units in the year 2004-05 were Rs 74,019 crore. The growth in exports in 2005-06 is an impressive 36 per cent as compared to 2004-05...

Karnataka (Rs 37,000 crore),
Maharashtra (Rs 15,500 crore) and
Tamil Nadu (Rs 13,960 crore)...

Karnataka registered a growth of 34 per cent ... from Rs 27,600 crore in 2004-05 to Rs 37,000 crore in 2005-06.
Maharashtra also grew 34 per cent from Rs 11,542 crore to Rs 15,500 crore.
Tamil Nadu went up from 29 per cent at Rs 13,960 from Rs 10,790 crore.

Andhra Pradesh exports from STPI grew by 51 per cent from Rs 8270 to Rs 12,500 crore. :cheer:
Haryana grew 41 per cent,
Uttar Pradesh 43 per cent,
Delhi 43 per cent,
West Bengal 25 per cent,
Orissa 16 per cent,
Kerala 10 per cent,
Chandigarh 31 per cent,
Rajasthan 36 per cent,
Gujarat 32 per cent,
Madhya Pradesh 35 per cent,
Punjab 46 per cent,
Pondicherry 33 per cent and
other areas 25 per cent
with a national total of 36 per cent at Rs 100,809 crores from Rs 74,019 crore.

STP scheme, which is a 100 per cent export oriented scheme, has attracted many entrepreneurs in the area of software and services. More than 6000 units are registered under STPI umbrella out of which more than 4200 units have exported software in 2005-06.

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?hpFlag=Y&chklogin=N&autono=223678&leftnm=lmnu2&leftindx=2&lselect=0
Cities in reform rush, pitch for makeover

The faces of at least 23 cities are going to be transformed in less than seven years.

The announcement of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission by the Manmohan Singh government in December 2005 has had an electrifying effect on state governments.

The 23 cities that have agreed to crush urban vested interests and have submitted city development plans and signed memoranda of agreement are: Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Chandigarh, Raipur, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Vadodara, Surat, Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur, Ujjain, Greater Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Kohima, Ajmer Pushkar, Jaipur, Coimbatore, Madurai, Asansol and Kolkata (elections were declared in the last four, so the MOA will be signed after May)...

Andhra Pradesh, for instance, has said that in the three cities that have been selected under the mission, city planning and transfer of municipal services will be done within three years of signing the MoA (ie 2009). Stamp duty will be reduced to five per cent by 2010...

In Hyderabad, operations and management costs will be recovered fully by 2013, while in Vijayawada, reform of property tax will be completed and 90 per cent of the collections will be made by 2007...

For Hyderabad, for a flyover at Greenlands Junction which is currently one of the most congested traffic spots in the city, the first instalment of Rs 151 crore has already been released against a total project cost of Rs 1727 crore.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
more cities like Kakinada, Rajahmundry, Guntur, Nellore and Tirupati should also utilize the opportunity.

News From Webindia123.com
Vizag Steel Plant gets best industrial award
Hyderabad | April 28, 2006 9:31:38 PM IST

Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited(Vizag Steel Plant today got the prestigious industry productivty award of the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FAPCCI).
Andhra Pradesh State Finance Corporation (APSFC) received the award for best all round performance from Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy at an impressive presentation ceremony.

The best worker's welfare activity award was given to Kesoram Cements, best technology development in R and D to Premier Explosive Limited, best export performance award to Vijay Electricals.Pratista Industries won the best new product innovation award.
-------------------------------------
Its GOOD to see some PSEs doing well.

The Economic Times Online
AP's IT exports touch Rs 12,521 cr in '05-06

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SUNDAY, APRIL 30, 2006 12:00:01 AM]

HYDERABAD: IT software exports from Andhra Pradesh have touched Rs 12,521 cr in 2005-06, a growth of over 51% from last year’s Rs 8,270 cr. AP’s exports form 12.5% of the total exports from Software Technology Parks of India units across the country. The national exports this year stood at Rs 1,00,809 cr — a growth of 36% over the pervious year.

... STPI director (Hyderabad and Bangalore) BV Naidu said, “We are expecting a 45% growth in exports this year and hope to touch the Rs 18,000-cr mark in software exports next year.”

... “As many as 173 IT companies were added to the state this year of which 69 were foreign equity companies and 104 Indian companies. Additionally, five new IT parks were also added.”

Some of the major STPI units set up during 2005-06 include Amazon, HCL, TNS, Verizon and UBS among others. ..

The software exports to the US and Canada stood at around 61%, while Europe stood second with 20% followed by Japan, Middle East and Asia at 16%.

The exports from application and technology software stood at 68%, while the ITeS and BPO exports stood at 32%. “There has also been a spurt in growth in exports from IT units from secondary cities, with Rs 109 cr of exports going out of Visakhapatnam,” said Kumar. The employees as on March 31, 2006, stood at 1,51,789 as against 1,26,920 last year.

that's good news! hope the state achieves the target of 18000 crore.

Dear Andhra boarders,

Iam a chennai boarder and generally post my opinons only on Chennai boards. But iam here to post my displeasure at the language used by this boarder by the name "Pding" who visits all other boards including Chennai's. He may not use such language on this board as he seems to be from Andhra. But if situation arises he can give into using foul language. I strongly request you guys to boycott his comments unless he gives an unconditional apology on all boards

if you have any more threads to post in, i'll do that for you. just gimme your password.

Dear Andhra boarders,

Iam a chennai boarder and generally post my opinons only on Chennai boards. But iam here to post my displeasure at the language used by this boarder by the name "Pding" who visits all other boards including Chennai's. He may not use such language on this board as he seems to be from Andhra. But if situation arises he can give into using foul language. I strongly request you guys to boycott his comments unless he gives an unconditional apology on all boards
spam???

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/05/02/stories/2006050212020400.htm

Hinduja brothers call on YSR Leyland bodybuilding unit likely at Tada

YSR responds positively to the brothers' request seeking matching incentives
Brothers rake up 1,000-MW power plant at Visakhapatnam with YSR
Company keeps options open, has talks with Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh

Hyderabad: If things move in the right direction, Tada, near Andhra Pradesh-Tamil Nadu border, is all set to acquire a bodybuilding unit of Ashok Leyland, the second largest commercial vehicle manufacturer in the country.

A proposal to this effect was made by the Hinduja brothers to Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy when they met him here on Monday.

The unit with a capacity to roll out 50,000 vehicles annually is expected to cost around Rs.1, 250 crores.

The company has, however, kept its options open and is continuing its negotiations with Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh in this regard in view of the incentives being offered there. The Chief Minister is said to have responded positively to the Hinduja brothers' request seeking matching incentives.

In the 15-minute-long meeting, the brothers reopened the issue of setting up a 1,000-MW power plant at Visakhapatnam which has been in suspended animation for some time.

Already, Volkswagen and General Motors are the two other automobile majors considering entry into Andhra market due to the special thrust being given by the State Government to boost incentive-linked industrial development...

News From Webindia123.com
Efforts on to recover 170 acres of occupied land: Spokesman
Machilipatnam | May 02, 2006 3:40:57 PM IST

The Krishna District Revenue authorities, in a recent survey found that about 170 acres of fish tanks, has been under the occupation of a ruling party leader at Kanuru coastal village in Bandar mandal of this district, according to an official spokesman here.
He said these lands were distributed to landless fishermen earlier for fish culture. Later, the politician took away these lands from them. All these lands would be recovered under the Revenue Act 9 of 77 and re-distributed to eligible fishermen again, he added.

The spokesman said the third and final phase of Kolleru lake enroached fish ponds demolition programme was going on in Krishna district area.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
They must find a way to make the names of such leaders public, so people will know whom to elect next.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/04/29/stories/2006042913250400.htm



YSR pleads for level-playing field

Chief Minister Y. S.Rajasekhara Reddy has hinted that the Centre may extend the incentives given to industries in the hill States to most backward districts in Andhra Pradesh or do away with the policy.

"The Andhra Pradesh Government has been repeatedly urging the Centre to extend the same incentives enjoyed by new industries in the hill States to other States in the country to create a level-playing field", he said, addressing a gathering after giving away the 88th Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chamber of Commerce (FAPCCI) awards here on Friday.

"The pharmaceutical sector is moving to the hill States in North India because of the incentives extended by those Governments. We want the same incentives to be given to us," Dr. Reddy said . "The indication received by us is that the Centre might extend the incentives to some backward districts or completely do away with it next year."

Power tariff

He announced that the Government was firm on reducing the industrial power tariff further. Already industries were getting 75 paise subsidy which would be hiked by 25 paise in the case of new industries. "The tariff charged by the Andhra Pradesh Transco is the lowest in the country", the Chief Minister said, assuring quality power to industries.

He reiterated that the Government was firm that polluting units would have to pay the price. Already 16 such units in Katedan industrial area had been served closure notice.

He observed that when the Congress rode back to power there was an apprehension that the new Government would not give a thrust to industries. But situation today was that the State's industrial growth rate was impressive, with several industries coming to Andhra Pradesh.

Awards presented

The Chief Minister earlier gave away awards in various categories to industrialists and entrepreneurs. Chairman and Managing Director of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (Visakhapatnam Steel Plant) Y. Shivasagar received the best industrial productivity award.

FAPCCI president C.V.Atchut Rao, past president O.P. Goenka, vice-presidents Sudhir Sanghi and A. Subba Rao, besides awards committee chairman S.S.R. Koteswara Rao were present.

Award to MFI withdrawn

In a surprise move, FAPCCI has dropped its proposal to present an award to Asmitha Mircofin Ltd, a City-based company, in the wake of the controversy over coercive methods adopted by micro finance.

FAPCCI had named the company as one of the recipients of the 88th annual awards presented on Friday. AML was selected for its outstanding contribution to the welfare of socially/economically/physically challenged destitute women.

The award was instituted by Omprakash Tibrewala Foundation and carried a cash prize of Rs. 5,001.

The federation had justified the award on Thursday and defended the selection on the ground that MFI controversy was not there when entries were invited three months ago. But it seemed to have had second thoughts and decided to cancel the award itself to avoid any controversy.

An FAPCCI office-bearer said the decision was taken in view of the controversy and actions of some MFIs.

"It was not proper to create an embarrassing situation for the Government by presenting the award through a prestigious organisation in the presence of Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy," he said.




i hope his efforts pay off. HP is giving a lot of competition for FMCG and even more importantly Pharma units in AP.

http://www.thehindu.com/2006/05/06/stories/2006050607200600.htm

Police Commissionerates in five more A.P. cities

Law and order problems and increase in traffic led to new set-up

HYDERABAD: The cities of Warangal, Guntur, Rajahmundry, Tirupati and Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh will be made urban police districts shortly and each will be headed by a Commissioner as in the case of Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam.

These cities have been upgraded into municipal corporations but their present police set-up, headed by a Superintendent of Police, is not commensurate with the increased problems of law and order, crime and traffic, said Home Minister K. Jana Reddy on Friday...

Mr. Reddy said a new force named "Marine Police" would come into existence soon to guard the State's 930-km-long coast against smuggling and other illegal activities.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Improvement in law and order and traffic will make investors feel more confident! a positive development.

more than just investments, this kinda stuff really does improve the law and order situation in the state.

News From Webindia123.com
SCR targets Rs 405 crore on freight
Vijayawada | May 07, 2006 7:53:45 PM IST

The Vijayawada Division of South- Central Railway (SCR)has set a target to earn Rs 405.63 crore by transporting 9.30 million tonnes of freight during 2006-2007, according to official sources.
It was Rs.313.73 crore from 7.17 million tonnes in the last fiscal.

Out of the total, Rs 120 crore came from Kakinada port. The coal reaching the port from Australia and Indonesia will be sent by train to Chennai and other parts of the country. Similarly, iron ore from Hospet in Karnataka will be shipped to China and Japan.
------------------------------------------------------
Investments made on Kakinada port are already at work!.

yes, with the future projects that have already started taking shape, this region will become a major port bub. hopefully the gangavaram port too moves freely and the project is successful. i can see this are turning into a major manufacturing zone, especially with the Skoda SEZ which will be operational by 2009 or 2010.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1515426.cms
Japan co to set up assembly plant in India

MUMBAI: Japan's Nissan Motor Co is close to setting up a manufacturing or assembly plant for cars in India, a business newspaper reported on Thursday. "Much of the production may be exported"

The first product is likely to be fitted with a 1.3 litre petrol engine, the paper said, quoting a company executive as saying "it would soon announce plans for India"...

A Japanese business daily had reported in February that Nissan planned to develop a car for emerging markets including China and India, and was likely to make about 900,000 units of the model in these regions by 2009.

The paper had said total investment was expected to be more than $840 million and that the car, with an engine displacement of about 1 litre, would sell for about $10,000.

...Maruti Udyog Ltd, in which Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp has 54.2 per cent, controls more than half of India's passenger vehicle market, which is expected to nearly double to 2 million units a year by 2010.

Maruti's cheapest car is priced at about Rs 250,000 ($5,568), while Tata Motors Ltd. , the number three car maker, is working on a sub-Rs 100,000 car ($2,227) to encourage more motorcycle users to upgrade.
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Lets hope, team YSR will do some serious work on this lead...
NHAI is expanding NH5 from 4 lane to 6 lane btn TADA and Chennai.
Hopefully, this would improve the chances for TADA.
---------------------------------------------Chennai – Tada (50kms) section has been identified for development as Six-lane highway under Design Build Finance and Operate (DBFO) procurement.

The project would envisage widening of existing Four-lane highway with additional features such as providing of additional service roads, underpasses, flyovers and bridges so as to enhance operational efficiency and safety


http://www.nhai.org/nhdp_phaseV.htm

YSR hints at curbing funds for road works
Road works will have to wait for one or two years: YSR

BANAGANAPALLE (Kurnool Dt.): Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy has indicated restricted flow of funds to road works in the next two years in order to mobilise a huge amount of money for the irrigation projects...

Addressing a Praja Patham meeting here on Tuesday, he said "Road works have to wait for one or two years if the popular projects of the Government are to be completed successfully." However, he clarified that repairs would be undertaken...

Also, housing programme under the Indiramma programme was taken up with objective of providing shelter to homeless families as a mission...

that's not really a good sign. roads provide long-term advantage. funds for major state and national highways should be increased, not decreased. i hope he's not talkin' about these.

Panchayat polls: YSR, Naidu go for the jugular
Ramu Sarma - [ Tuesday, May 09, 2006 02:00:45 amTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

HYDERABAD: Chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu seem to have made the panchayat polls a matter of personal prestige. Both Naidu and YSR have been virtually competing with each other in holding meetings in the same town on the same day.

While Naidu uses his meetings with the twin purpose of campaigning against the Congress and to help local units iron out their differences, the CM has been using the platform of Prajapatham to launch a tirade against Naidu...
This may be the reason for highlighting the irrigation projects.
Irrigation is a big selling point in rural andhra pradesh.

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/05/11/stories/2006051110850300.htm
`YSR will have final say on Bandar Road works'

VIJAYAWADA: Minister for Municipal Administration Koneru Ranga Rao said that only Chief Minister Y.S.Rajasekhara Reddy can decide the width to which Bandar Road is to be widened.

The Minister denied having said that Bandar Road would be widened to 100 feet in one stretch, to 90 feet in another and to 80 feet in the third stretch like Eluru Road. Mr. Ranga Rao said here on Wednesday that he had suggested the 100-90-80 feet formula, but that was not accepted.

The Government had not decided on the issue as yet. The Chief Minister would resolve the differences of opinions amongst the elected representatives...-----------------------------------------------------------------------
looks like the petty politics are creating road blocks again.
it is a pity that some political leaders oppose to developmental projects and still get away with it. wake up, people!

yes, i'm surprised by this. why should they intervene in every damn thing? our netas' greed is extreme. constantly lookin' for things that can get them votes.

RIL to invest $7 bn for KG basin operations (http://www.myiris.com/newsCentre/newsPopup.php?fileR=20060513095534043&dir=2006/05/13&secID=livenews)

RIL lines up $7 bn for KG Basin operations (http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=11&bKeyFlag=IN&autono=598)



Andhra basin could become another Gulf of Mexico (http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=India&month=May2006&file=World_News200605133256.xml)


While Reliance gas reserves may be between 12 and 14 trillion cubic feet, ONGC’s gas find is estimated to be one trillion cubic feet.

GSPC last year announced India’s largest gas find of over 20 trillion cubic feet in KG basin.

Cairn Energy is reported to have found reserves of 0.75 to one trillion cubic feet.




KG basin scheduled will be commenced by mid-2008 as the first consignment of ready-to-use pipelines would be landing at the Vizag port on May 18. Also it can become the energy hub of India, the investment-friendly environment alone will hold the key for the development of the basin.

The 40 mmscmd of gas to be produced in the KG Basin fields by RIL in the initial period would be easily absorbed as there is a demand-supply gap of 40-50 mmscmd in the country.

In KG D6 block, the Reliance Industries has so far drilled 15 wells, of which gas has been discovered in 14. This accounts for just 20 per cent of the total exploratory area of the block.



Will only 20 percent explored, the potential is huge.

http://www.thehindu.com/2006/05/14/stories/2006051413930400.htm
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NELLORE: Mozo Footwear Company to set up shop in Nellore district.

"Representatives of the US-based Mozo Footwear Company recently visited the district to explore its investment opportunities. They have now expressed their willingness to set up unit in Nellore," District Collector M. Ravi Chandra said on Saturday.

Mozo is one of the prominent footwear brands in the U.S. and its decision to set up a multi-crore facility in the district would indeed provide employment opportunities to local people. Besides, this kind of investment trend would see manufacturers from different countries looking at diversifying production bases coming to the district, he claimed.

The Government has already allotted a 315-acre site to Apache, the Singapore-based exclusive supplier of footwear to Adidas, at Mambattu of Tada mandal for 25 years for lease for one rupee to develop the Special Economic Zone and locate its Rs. 500- crore manufacturing base.
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Deccan Chronicle: Puma too may step into Nellore

Nellore, May 13: Officials of the Sonepat, Haryana, based Moja Shoes Private Limited, which manufactures shoes for Reebok and Puma, visited Mambattu here to examine the viability of setting up a factory here. China-based Apache, shoe manufacturer for Adidas, had begun work on its plant in February at Mambattu.

Tada is really picking up. other industries too can come into this place. the textile industry too should pick up in this area. Good job YSR!

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/1310AP_India_Selling_Cars.html

Monday, May 15, 2006 · Last updated 11:04 a.m. PT

Foreign automakers up production in India

...Motorbikes, auto-rickshaws and wandering cows are increasingly sharing India's chaotic streets with shiny new foreign cars - another sign of the country's historic economic expansion.

The world's biggest automakers are opening factories and ramping up production in India, where demand is being fueled by rising incomes, cheaper loans and a growing network of roads.

Foreign auto companies are angling for their share of one of the world's fastest-growing car markets. General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co., BMW AG, DaimlerChrysler AG, Honda Motor Co. and Hyundai Motor Co. have all recently announced plans to expand production or build new assembly plants in India.

Last year, about 1.2 million cars and light trucks were sold here. That number is expected to increase by about 9 percent annually over the next five years, according to J.D. Power and Associates, a global market research firm based in Westlake Village, Calif.

The Indian market is still tiny compared to that of the U.S., where about 17 million vehicles were sold last year. But with a population of 1.1 billion and an economy that has averaged 8 percent growth over the past three years, it has a lot of room to grow.

...the industry's long-term prospects look bright as more Indians join the swelling middle class, which views car ownership as a key step toward a better life. Banks and other financial institutions are competing to offer low-interest loans to car buyers, making it easier for them to buy their first vehicles or trade up for newer models.

Many foreign car companies are setting up shop around Chennai, formerly known as Madras, to take advantage of its large port on the Bay of Bengal, its skilled technical work force and its large base of auto parts suppliers.

Inside Ford's sprawling assembly plant on the outskirts of Chennai, hundreds of young workers in blue uniforms weld frames, paint auto bodies and install engines in sedans and station wagons

Ford, the second-largest U.S. automaker, may be shuttering factories and laying off thousands of workers in North America, but it's boosting production and adding to its network of 115 dealerships in India.

The Detroit automaker sold 24,000 vehicles in India last year, up from 15,000 in 2002, said Arvind Mathew, Ford India's president and managing director. It sold 14,000 vehicles during the first three months of this year, nearly double the sales during the same period last year.

"Clearly, India as a country has huge potential," Mathew said, adding that there only nine cars for every 1,000 people in India, compared with 500 cars per 1,000 people in North America and Europe.
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GoAP should act fast lest they miss the bus.
may be they should open Auto SME parks or Spl Economic Zones near TADA ans Vizag on a prioroty basis.

GMR may move Mangalore project to Kakinada

The GMR Group is considering shifting the naphtha-based 220-MW barge-mounted Mangalore power project to Kakinada coast in Andhra Pradesh with the naphtha-linkage expiring in October this year.

The company has chalked out two alternatives for the Mangalore project - under the first one, talks have already been initiated with an Australian company for supply of LNG to the Mangalore power plant. Certain technological modifications will be required to convert the plant into an LNG-fired unit at an estimated cost of $10 million.

The second and the long-term option is to move the plant to Kakinada coast in view of abundant gas availability in the KG Basin from 2008. "This requires about $18-20 million investment and we have already identified the land at Kakinada to anchor the plant," Terdal said...

Meanwhile, sources have informed PTI that Citigroup is close to buying 1.4% stake in GMR stake for Rs 175 cr. GMR is close to making its third pre-IPO private equity placement to raise another Rs 160-175 crore.

The company has almost concluded negotiations and Citigroup is expected to pick up the stake in the next few days, investment banking sources said.

"GMR was in discussion with Citigroup, and Temasek Holdings. Citigroup is expected to pick up minority stake, say about 1.3-1.4% in the company," sources said.

Meanwhile, GMR has fixed the price band for the IPO at Rs 325-350. The company will be raising Rs 1,000 crore through the IPO route and proceeds of the issue would be used for investment in infrastructure projects, including the Delhi and Hyderabad airport projects

more positive news. this region is rapidly industrializing. L&T's ship-building unit will be a great thing for AP and this region in particular. hope they choose Kakinada as they've indicated.

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/05/19/stories/2006051921510300.htm

VIJAYAWADA: Here is some good news to those who are eagerly waiting for the proposed IT Park at Kesarapalli, opposite Gannavaram airport, to come up on the 32-acre site identified for the purpose.

As many as eight developers, some of who are well-known names in the field of developing state-of-the-art facilities for industries and infrastructure projects, have responded to an advertisement calling for `Expression of Interest' issued recently by the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited (APIIC).

The Larsen & Toubro Infocity, which executed the Hitec City project in Hyderabad; Raheja, another developer who was recently given land in Hyderabad for developing an IT park; and DLF, a leading name in the civil construction business; are a few notable names.

In addition, Lanco Infrastructure Projects, Madhucon, Indu Projects, Ramkee and MGF Developers too have submitted proposals for Expression of Interest...

Secretary to the Government for Information Technology and Communications K. Ratna Prabha said: "We are excited by the fact that some established names have responded to the proposal to develop IT Park in a tier-II city such as Vijayawada. This augurs well for the project." ...
-------------------------------------------
A very encouraging outlook for Vij.

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/05/19/stories/2006051904340200.htm

Heavy vehicle driving school to be set up in Sangareddy

Sangareddy: Medak district Collector B.Venkatesam has announced that an international standard 18-acre heavy vehicle driving facility will be set up here with the collaboration of Overseas Manpower Company A.P limited.

Speaking at a meeting at the local ITI on Thursday, he said that this would help unemployed youth to fetch driving jobs in foreign countries, particularly in the USA and Malaysia. Mr. Venkatesam said that efforts to create more jobs by any institution would be matched with infrastructure, scholarships lodging and boarding facilities for the selected candidates.

The Collector also reviewed the chances of building a heavy track at the ITI campus for the benefit of 250 trainee drivers selected from different parts of the State.

http://www.deccan.com/Region/RegionNews.asp

MPs to meet PM on Basar IIT

Adilabad, May 18: MPs from all parties of the State are likely to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and human resources development minister Arjun Singh before the conclusion of Parliament session to discuss the issue of establishing an IIT at Basar. Telugu Desam leader S. Venugopalachari told this correspondent that efforts were on to unite MPs from the State to exert pressure on the Central government over the issue.

MPs from the State are expected to meet the Prime Minister and the human resource development minister between May 24 and 26. Educationist Chukka Ramaiah is also making efforts to involve his students settled abroad in the project. Efforts are also being made to meet the top officials of the Andhra Pradesh Technological Services (APTS) on the issue.

Mr Venugopalachari held preliminary talks with the officials of Infosys on May 15 in Bangalore on the issue. The Infosys officials told Mr Venugopalachari that they would take blueprint for the IIT from the Kharagpur IIT. A team of academicians and engineers of Infosys will soon visit Basar. Second round of talks will be held with Infosys chief mentor N.R. Narayana Murthy in Hyderabad on the issue, the Telugu Desam leader said. He said that they would discuss setting up of the IIT at Basar under public and private partnership.
------------------------------------------
A noble cause!. Hope, they would succeed.

Sarees submitted for Geographical Indication (GI)

HYDERABAD: Gorgeous sarees of half a dozen ethnic varieties, woven by about 30,000 handloom workers in Andhra Pradesh, will be submitted to the Central Government's Textile Committee for Geographical Indication (GI) registration soon.

The GI registration proposed for six varieties of Gadwal, Narayanpet, Venkatagiri, Dharmavaram, Uppada Jamdhani and Gollabhama will afford them the protection already extended to Pochampally Ikat variety in December 2004.

If there is a danger of imitation and copying and affecting the survival or existence of traditional weavers, the Government can seek GI registration for them, officials of the Handlooms and Textiles department told this website's newspaper .

The GI registration is granted after the officials are convinced that these six varieties are in danger of being imitated by power looms and big textile mills.

While the Gadwal sarees are unique for their weaving technique (obtaining solid pallu by piecing the threads of different materials), the traditional Dharmavaram sarees, which are similar to Kanchipuram sarees, are woven with golden zari for extra warp/weft designs in borders, body and pallu.

The Uppada Jamdhani sarees unparalelled in artistic skill where the designs intermingle with the basic plain ground weave and are produced by weavers of Kothapalli village in East Godavari and Venkatagiri in Nellore district.

The exquisitely woven Narayanpet and Venkatagiri sarees are the most sought after by women in the State. However, there are few takers for Gollabhama variety, mainly due to change in consumer taste.

This was developed by weavers in Siddipet, due to change in the taste of the consumers.

we don't need another IIT. instead, we can get a grant of Rs. 75 crore and update the labs and technology and build new research facilities at Osmania, Andhra, Kakatiya, and SVU.

looks like there is no such grant on cards.
they are looking at a public private partnership.
may be, Osmania, Andhra, Kakatiya, and SVU should also come up with their own plans for mobilizing funds to improve R&D infra. may be they should also start tying up with local business enterprises. thats what most edu. instts do in the west and US.

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/05/21/stories/2006052104380200.htm

Satavahana kings sent emissaries to South-east Asia from this Andhra coast
Nearly 2000 years ago teachers and traders sailed to Indo-China
15 years ago Rajiv Gandhi made his last public speech here

VISAKHAPATNAM: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh turned nostalgic while referring to the historic importance of Vizag at the inauguration of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant's Rs.8,692-crore expansion project on Saturday.

``Vizag has been one of India's windows to the world for many centuries.

It is from this Andhra coast, from the ports along the Coromandel coast, that the Satavahana kings sent their emissaries to the Souteast Asia,'' he said.

Dr. Singh said the teachers and traders who sailed from here nearly 2,000 years ago, were among the earliest Indians to build a bridge between the Indian sub-continent and the people of Indo-China.

``Today, Vizag is fast emerging as a major industrial centre. It is one of our largest ports, an active link between India and the rest of the world,'' he said asserting that the expansion of VSP would improve the industrial standing and profile of Visakhapatnam further.

The Prime Minister greeted the gathering in Telugu saying `andariki naa namaskaramu'
(greetings to all of you).
---------------------------------------
A grand revival of the great historical city.

i remember Vajpayee and Kalam greeting in Telugu a couple of years ago when they addressed a meet in Hyderabad. it's a great gesture.

we don't need another IIT. instead, we can get a grant of Rs. 75 crore and update the labs and technology and build new research facilities at Osmania, Andhra, Kakatiya, and SVU.

I have to disagree pding. :)

We need a new IIT in the state. It's a lot better to build a new one and bring in the IIt atmosphere and work culture into it rather than giving huge grants to problem ridden universities.

Also these universities have deep divisive factors working inside them.

So a new one is always better!

well yes, having a new IIT is good but it will require a lot of money. instead of that the infrastructure at the current universities should be upgraded. i read sometime ago that the 7 institutes which were considered to be given IIT status would be given Rs. 42 crore each for upgradation of facilities. i hope they do it as fast as they can Osmania makes good use of it.

I agree,but a one time investment is lot better than having to do with a gud but really problem ridden university.

The universities in the state at present have many probelms on their campuses including deep divisive caste problems. This doesn't sound gud for an IIT.

http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=14206978

CII asks AP to boost cotton processing infrastructure

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has forecast that cotton production in Andhra Pradesh will see a CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) of seven per cent and make the textile sector a Rs 36,000-crore industry by 2015.
Increased cotton acreage and significant shift to cotton from other cash crops such as chilli and tobacco would fuel the growth, a CII survey on textiles said.

Garment exports

The State's garment export will grow over 40 times to 600 million pieces and cloth processing capacities too would grow by nearly 100 times to touch a figure of around 1,300 million metre by 2015.

The CII, however, wanted the Government to ensure a facilitating environment to help the sector achieve the projected targets. It asked the Government to encourage setting up of adequate number of processing units, preferably in the coastal districts where water was availably abundantly.

The study suggested the Government set up major garmenting units in and around Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Guntur.

"The State's weaving, processing and garment industries will utilise over 70 per cent of the cotton production by 2015, a significant jump from 35-40 per cent in 2005," the survey said.

Weaving capacity

It estimated that weaving would increase by five times to touch 4,139 million metre, cloth processing to grow almost 100 times to touch about 1,300 million metre and the garment export would grow 40 times to 600 million pieces.

Though Andhra Pradesh produces about 14 per cent of cotton in the country, only one per cent of the entire weaving is done here. This reflects under-utilisation of its production capacity.

Stating that weaving capacities would jump in the proportion of the use of air jet looms, powerlooms and handlooms, the survey estimated that the number of air jet looms would go up to 5,000 in 2015 from the present 500. | Go to Sify Business Home page |

While the number of powerlooms would go up to 86,555 in 2015 from 44,000, the number of handlooms would grow from 2,13,000 to 4,56,429, it said.

Projecting huge growth potential in the knitting sector, the State currently produced just 20 tonnes per day of knitted fabrics, less than one per cent of Tirupur's production capacity.





textile/garments industry holds a lot of promise not just for AP but also for India. MH, TN, and others are front-runners in this industry. AP should soon catch up with YSR's active approach.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/05/31/stories/2006053108000700.htm


Centre clears A.P. lift irrigation project

The Centre has given site clearance to the Rajiv Sagar lift irrigation (Dummugudem) project in Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh.

The State Government special representative Ravi Mallu announced this here on Tuesday.

Dr. Mallu said the project involved both lift-cum-gravity canal, which envisages lifting of 16.17 tmc of water from river Godavari from Pamulapally village in Aswapuram mandal.

He said that the water conductor system connects five storage reservoirs of which three reservoirs were already there. The project requires a total of 1980.87 hectares of which 345 hectares is forestland. Dr. Mallu said there would no displacement on account of the project with an estimated expenditure of Rs. 4,000 crores.

It would provide irrigation facility to 4 lakh acres in Khammam in two phases.



YSR is pumping money into almost 11 major irrigation projects currently. i hope ppl's standards of living really improve with this.

Hyderabad, May 30: The German auto major Volkswagen (VW) has denied that it has plans to set up its automobile plant in Nasik, Maharashtra. VW officials recently wrote to the State government denying reports that the company plans to move to Maharashtra and reiterated that it was engaged in a dialogue only with the Andhra Pradesh government. However, VW also made it clear that the project will not come up before 2009.

Official sources told this correspondent that VW officials responded to the State government’s concerns after there were media reports claiming that VW had chosen Maharashtra over Andhra Pradesh. A week after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Germany and met representatives of the automobile company on April 22, media reports from national capital had claimed that a VW delegation told the Indian officials that they have chosen Nasik to set up their car plant. Sources said that on Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy’s instructions, principal secretary (industries) Lakshmi Parthasarathy wrote to VW seeking clarification.

She also referred to the preparation of a draft Memorandum of understanding and working out the financial model based on economic incentives sought by the German company. About legal action against former India chief Helmut Wolfgang Schuster who was involved in a Rs 11 crore scam, sources said that the German government was going slow on it. The prosecutors in Germany have so far not opened the trial against Dr Schuster.

lots of speculation. i wonder when VW will take the decision????

anyway thanks for the info.

Dr. Reddy's Labs Plans (http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1032616&CatID=4)


Dr Reddy’s has provided for a higher capital expenditure over the next 12-15 months with a budget of $100 million, compared to $42 million last year. It will set up three new facilities, including a formulations plant in Hyderabad and two API and CPS plants in Visakhapatnam, apart from a new R&D centre in Hyderabad during the period

Four-lane bridge across Godavari
Newindpress Friday June 2 2006 13:07 IST
RAJAHMUNDRY: A four-lane bridge will be built across river Godavari at a cost of Rs 550 crores to connect Kovvur with Rajahmundry. This will be the fourth bridge across the river.

A rail-cum-road bridge and Godavari barrage (old bridge) are at Rajahmundry and Dowleswaram respectively. Chief Minister Y S Rajashekara Reddy will conduct the bhoomi puja for constructing the bridge.

Roads and Buildings Minister Jakkampudi Ramamohana Rao on Thursday told newsmen the bridge would be built under Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) system and would help ease vehicular traffic on the two-lane rail-cum-road bridge and will also address present and future traffic needs. Tenders for taking up the construction were called on Thursday.

The four-km bridge, an approach road on Kovvur side and a nine-km approach road on Rajahmundry side... the distance between Vijayawada and Rajahmundry will be reduced by 40 kms.
Travel time between the cities will come down by an hour.

Rao said Rs 70 crores was allotted for a flyover between T Nagar and Balajipeta and the Government has sanctioned Rs 8 crores to acquire land, he added.

Andhra Pradesh Road Development Corporation managing director V Ravindra said APSRTC would save Rs 100 crores on vehicle operation cost due to the decrease in the distance between cities.

He said the Government had given three years’ time to complete the bridge but the bridge would be ready after 18 months. Proposals were under consideration for a four-lane road between Kovvur and Devarapalli, and Rajahmundry and Kovvur, said Ravindra.

Newindpress:
Foundation laid for Kakatiya thermal unit

WARANGAL/SANGAREDDY: Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy laid the foundation stone for a 500 MW thermal power plant in the coal belt area of the district on Thursday.

The Kakatiya thermal power plant will be set up in an area of 980 acres near Dubbapalli village in Ghanapuram mandal in Mulug Assembly constituency limits.

The 2.13 million tonnes of coal needed for the plant will be supplied from Singareni Collieries and water would be pumped through a pipeline from river Godavari, 58 kms away from the place.

A target of 3,500 billion units of power is set to be produced by the plant every year.

Addressing a public meeting, the Chief Minister showered several sops to the people. He said tenders for the three-lane pipeline works of the Devadula lift irrigation project would be called within a week.

Minister for Power Mohammed Shabbir Ali said the plant would be completed within the scheduled time of 891 days and power production will begin from Nov 9, 2008.

The Minister said all clearances were obtained for the plant. The foundation stone for another 500 MW plant proposed near here will be laid in a year, he said.

The Kakatiya power plant, once completed, will provide power to industries and agriculture...

STPI in Kakinada


Kakinada : Software Technology Park of India is likely to be established in East Godavari district in Kakinada. Preparations are being done for the same.

Through STPI Kakinada will get connected to Information Technology centre's across the globe. The state government evince keen interest in developing Kakinada in every aspect.

link (http://www.andhracafe.com/index.php?m=show&id=7187)

Hitec city in Kakinada

Kakinada : Hitech city is likely to take its root in Kakinada at the earliest. Search for finding out suitable land for setting up of Hitec city has already been started.

A proposal to establish Hitec city in the land belonging to State Port Authority is in government’s observation.

Minister of state for Defence Mr. M.M. Pallam Raju has discussed about the proposal with related officials. Chances remain high for the Hitec city to be established in that land.

link (http://www.andhracafe.com/index.php?m=show&id=7186)


Good to see government promoting more cities.

Vijayawada and Vizag are being promoted as Tier II destinations which is good. SME companies should be allowed to set up here along with big sized ones.

nice to see the thermal power plant in telangana. since the Telangana issue is now at the forefront, Tel ppl are finally seeing increased efforts by the Government to develop telangana. nice job YSR!

Source: IRIS NEWS DIGEST (05 June 2006)

Lending to special economic zones and infrastructure projects in the country is one of the thrust areas of the Bank of India and it is lending Rs 2 billion to the SEZ coming up at Kakinada, reports Business Line.

The bank had already lent Rs 1 billion to the SEZ for land acquisition and it was ready to lend Rs 1 billion more. The total exposure will be Rs 2 billion as far as the Kakinada SEZ is concerned, informed the bank.

The bank would lend to the Kakinada Seaports Ltd for developing the deep water port.

The bank, currently celebrating its centenary, would adopt 101 villages during the year and four or five of them would be chosen from Andhra Pradesh, stated the bank.

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/business/article_1169882.php/BHEL_bags_Andhra_Pradesh_order



BHEL bags Andhra Pradesh order

State-owned engineering major Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has bagged an order from Gammon India for setting up a lift irrigation scheme in Andhra Pradesh.


Gammon India is the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract holder of the Andhra Pradesh project that is expected to benefit farmers of the state by irrigating 275,000 hectares of parched land and making it arable, BHEL said in a statement Monday.


'Won against stiff competition, the order for the 135 MW (comprising five units of 30MW each) Kalwakurthy Lift Irrigation Scheme has been placed on BHEL by Gammon India,' the state-owned company stated.


BHEL is already executing stage-I of the scheme, the order having been sub-contracted to it by Patel Engineering, another EPC contractor.


BHEL's scope of work in the new project - the value of which has not been disclosed - envisages design, manufacture, supply, testing, and erection and commissioning of pumps, motors, controls and excitation equipment with other associated auxiliaries.



if i'm not wrong, kalwakurthy is in Telangana.

Focus Andhra: Singapore zooms in to set up SEZ

Monica Gupta in New Delhi | June 06, 2006 13:54 IST

Singapore is likely to zero in on Andhra Pradesh for setting up a multi-product special economic zone in India. The zone is expected to be developed by leading Singapore realty major Ascendas, which has set up many such zones globally.

Senior government officials told Business Standard that the Singapore government was in talks with the state government for a 5,000-acre plot of land for setting up the zone.

"We are expecting to receive a formal proposal for setting up the zone soon," an official said. This would be the first time that Ascendas would build such a zone in India as a developer. It is a co-developer in the Mahindra & Mahindra zone in Tamil Nadu, he added.

During the recent meeting to review the working of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement Singapore had indicated it was keen to set up a large SEZ in India.

New Delhi had made a strong pitch to Singapore to enter SEZs in the country. Both countries are expected to hold their next review meeting in July, in Singapore.

Meanwhile, the commerce ministry has sought the comments of the law ministry on the proposal to empower the board of approval to relax the area norms for SEZs.

Officials said the commerce and revenue department had agreed not to implement the rules on export of service on SEZs.

"Some of the rules governing export of services, as mandated by the revenue department are not easy to implement in SEZs particularly requirements that the service should have been sought from overseas and consumed overseas," an official said, adding there was consensus on the import of service rules being applicable to SEZs.

The SEZ rules were being amended to clearly state that mere transfer of an existing unit from the domestic tariff area into an SEZ would not qualify for tax breaks.

let's not celebtate yet. i'm sure several other states are in competition.

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/06/07/stories/2006060714010400.htm
Genco to sign gas supply accord with Reliance

6,300-cr. project to be set up at Karimnagar

HYDERABAD: The AP Genco will shortly sign an agreement with Reliance Petrochemicals for supply of gas to its 2,100-MW project being taken up at Karimnagar at a cost of Rs. 6,300 crores.

With Singareni coal mines located only 60 km away at Ramagundam, this mega project could have been an ideal pit-head station but the Genco wants it gas-based as it would work out cheaper. This is because the supply pipeline of the Reliance Petrochemicals, being laid from the Krishna-Godavari basin to Hyderabad, will pass by the side of Karimnagar.

The accord will be for supply of 9 million cubic metres per day to the plant from mid-2008. AP Genco MD Ajay Jain told The Hindu here on Tuesday that tenders for erection of plant would be called only after signing the gas agreement. Some 440 acres of land has been identified near the town at Lower Manair Dam from where the project will get 1.3 tmcft of water. A study on environment impact is "in full swing". The project's detailed project report (DPR) is expected to be ready by June-end.

The Genco has drawn up plans to increase its installed capacity to 12,000 MW by 2012 from the present 6,651 MW in view of a heavy demand likely from several upcoming massive lift irrigation schemes like Devadula and Kalwakurthy whose requirement is put at 3,000 MW.

As part of this, steps have been taken to expedite the 1,600-MW project at Krishnapatnam, planned with an investment of Rs. 7,000 crores. The Nellore Collector is expected to issue a notification soon to acquire 1,245 acres for the project for which DPR, prepared by Lehmeyer of Germany, will be ready in a month. A public hearing will be held in August on environment impact.
Krishnapatnam is going to be the pride of the nation as it would be the country's largest thermal power complex accounting for generation of 5,600 MW. Tthe two units of the Rayalaseema Thermal Power Station at Muddanur is poised for synchronisation in September and December.

wow, this is amazing. the country's power/energy infrastructure has started to improve and Andhra Pradesh is prolly leading in developing new resources to provide for the increasing demand for power. really great job. APGENCO deserves it's fair share of credit. though the free power for farmers scheme is kinda a burden on APGENCO it's still going ahead with it's plans. also, anybody know any details on the present financial conditions of APGENCO? just curious.

http://www.deccan.com/Region/RegionNews.asp
State plans IT hub in Warangal

Warangal, June 8: The State government directed the district administration to send a detailed proposal to turn the city into a major information technology hub in the region. The proposed plan to turn the city into an IT hub includes setting up of IT parks at prime vacant land near Sridevi Theatre, and in Madikonda, where two US-based IT firms have already procured land and are in the process of setting up of their software development centres.

Some top companies, including Reliance Infocom, are showing keen interest in setting up its IT park in this historic city of the Kakatiyas.

... there was a proposal for a massive Rs 103 crores project to set up a multiplex, shopping mall, and a five-star hotel at the integrated Kuda complex at Balasamudram.

... a mega truck terminal would also come up on 50 acres near Enumamula on the Warangal-Khammam highway. The proposed terminal would decongest traffic in the city and would considerably decrease heavy vehicular traffic here.

The Kuda also plans to buy 60 acres land belonging to the Azam Jahi Mills from the National Textile Corporation.

great news for warangal. but it is viable and profitable to build a five-star hotel, multiplex, and a shopping mall in a town like Warangal? i don't think the ppl have the attitude for this kinda stuff yet. but yes, Warangal needs some industrial development and recently a textile park was announced to be set up by an italian firm.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/06/10/stories/2006061010070300.htm



CPI(M) to launch stir on land acquisition

In a bid to protect legitimate interests of the farmers in land acquisition at Krishnapatnam, the CPI(M) has decided to launch an agitation in a phased manner.

To begin with, the party has decided to stage a cycle rally at different villages in Muthukuru mandal on Saturday. Besides, CPI(M) State secretary B.V. Raghavulu will visit Krishnapatnam on Monday to take up the agitation.

It may be recalled that the State Government is keen on pushing through Krishnapatnam port development as well as thermal power plant works, but farmers in the villages of Muthukuru mandal are not willing to part with their valuable land for a variety of reasons. And they had even staged a massive agitation in the last week of May against the Government's move to acquire their lands.

Protect local farmers


Against this backdrop, the CPI (M) has chalked out a plan to launch an agitation to protect local farmers on all fronts, Raghavulu told The Hindu . "There are many discrepancies right from the issuing of draft notification to acquire 1,300 acres of land in Krishnapatnam, Muthukuru and Tamminapatnam to keeping affected farmers in dark over the entire issue," he said.

According to local CPI (M) leaders, the party will take up several issues including the affected farmers demand of scrapping of the draft notification. "Since it was issued without consulting the local farmers, the district administration should immediately hold talks with the farming community," an affected farmer K Rama Krishna said.

The Government should acquire lands only after consulting experts besides taking local farmers into confidence. Moreover, land acquisition should be taken up after paying a handsome compensation to farmers, he said.





the Left is stronger than ever and they are rejuvenated due to their increasing influence in Indian politics. this is really bad. these retards are forever gonna keep India un-developed. the ppl with real ideas sit back at home and enjoy as they think India is growing and will become a super power. but who the fuck is gonna confront the threat posed by the emergence of Left parties????????????

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/06/10/stories/2006061004980300.htm
Nod for two major bridges

Bridge across Gouthami river at cost of Rs. 4.7 crores to be funded by Rajivpalle baata
Bridge across Panchanadi costing Rs. 1 crore with ONGC chipping in Rs. 40 lakhs
Footbridge costing Rs. 22 lakhs across Yelcheru

KAKINADA: The State Government has accorded sanction for construction of two major bridges — one across Gouthami river near Saladivaripalem and the other at Vodalarevu across Panchanadi. While the Saladivaripalem bridge costing Rs. 4.7 crores would be taken up under Rajivpalle Baata programme funds, the Vodalarevu bridge costing Rs. 1 crore would be constructed with the participation of ONGC.

... Of the total cost of Rs. 1 crore of Vodalarevu bridge, the ONGC had agreed to contribute Rs. 40 lakhs. Another footbridge costing Rs.22 lakhs would be coming up across Yelcheru in Atreyapuram mandal.

it's official now. VW is going to Punjab. i am completely stumped by their decision. even with the sops of AP Gov't, they opted for Punjab.


http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/3956288.html

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/06/12/stories/2006061203970200.htm

China invites students for medical courses

VISAKHAPATNAM: China is offering opportunities to Indian students to join medical courses in the country.

Chinese medical colleges, most of them run by the provincial government, offer an international MBBS programme for four-and-a-half years with one-year internship.

The fee for the entire programme ranges between Rs.8 lakhs and Rs.12 lakhs, depending on the university selected, said the speakers at a seminar organised by Master Educational Academy here on Friday.

V. Uday Kumar, Andhra Pradesh representative of saraswationline.com, the authorised admission agents for major universities in China, said that students opting for medical education abroad should obtain the permission of the Medical Council of India (MCI).

Students who secure over 50 per cent marks in physics, chemistry and biology in Intermediate are eligible for admission into Chinese Medical Colleges.

More details can be had on mbbschina@saraswationline.com
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Hi Andhraites, please spread the word - there might be some looking for such news. thanks.

VW to Bengal!!
What the heck are they playing any game?

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1637721.cms

Whats next? Nagaland? or Kashmir?

VW to Bengal!!
What the heck are they playing any game?

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1637721.cms

Whats next? Nagaland? or Kashmir?

thats right.
KA, TN, AP, MH, PA, WB - 6 states covered. 20 to go.
looks like VW folks are enjoying paid vacation visiting Indian states.
even if they cover 2 states per month, they will be in news for 10 more months. :)

VW to Bengal!!
What the heck are they playing any game?

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1637721.cms

Whats next? Nagaland? or Kashmir?

they r doing the same 4 ages now . problem is from our side also in jumping to a conclusion everytime a news flash abt VW.
Till now VW didnt make any official information.
Last time , since it was flashed in BBC , ppl assumed it to be authentic.Even that was not a official information.
VW project is confirmed only if VW rep calls for a press meet and announces his decision . till that time , it is always 0 investment only.

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/06/13/stories/2006061309210300.htm

Government plans to acquire 500 acres for Telangana University

HYDERABAD: The State Government is planning to acquire
300 acres for Aadikavi Nannaiah University at Rajahmundry,
400 acres for Yogi Vemana University at Kadapa and over
500 acres for Telangana University at Nizamabad.

A decision on this was reportedly taken at a meeting Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy had with officials on the progress of the three new universities being set up in the State from this academic year.

The officials also informed the Chief Minister about the proposed courses. Post Graduate courses in M.Sc in subjects like Organic Chemistry, Geo-Informatics, and Zoology with aqua culture is likely to be introduced in Aadikavi Nannaiah University.

Telangana University is likely to offer courses in M.Sc (Plant Sciences). M.Com (E-Commerce) and M.A. (Mass Communication) while Yogi Vemana University is likely to offer M.Sc courses in Disaster Management and Remote Sensing, Applied Geology (Mining and Mineral Exploration) and Botany apart from M.A. in Human Resources Development and Telugu Studies. All the three universities will offer MBA and MCA courses also.

http://www.deccan.com/City/CityNews.asp
AP tops in power sector show


Hyderabad, June 12: For the third time, Andhra Pradesh has bagged the first rank in performance of power sector, according to an exercise conducted by CRISIL, a credit rating agency, for the Union ministry of power, for the year 2005-06.

AP bagged the first rank from CRISIL for 2002-03 and 2004-05. The rating has been given based on the performance of the power utilities in the State, the government and the regulator. All the utilities are in profits now and the tariffs for the consumers have not been increased.

In fact, they came down for industrial consumers and the tariff subsidy from the government is decreasing. This performance is made possible by a massive transmission and distribution loss reduction to 20.1 per cent by the end of 2005-06. Special chief secretary (energy) A.K. Goyal will receive the award on behalf of the State on July 13.
----------------------------------------------------------
good job. weldone, team YSR!

Uplift of Kondapalli artisans
Monday June 12 2006 13:08 IST
VIJAYAWADA: At a time when persons engaged in traditional occupations are dwindling, the number of artisans of Kondapalli toys are increasing.

At least 40 per cent more households have taken to toy making, as it has become attractive due to efforts of Lanco Group, which has a 368 MW power plant in the village near here.

One artisan, whose forefathers migrated to Kondapalli from Rajasthan about 400 years ago, said that it has been a struggle for survival for his family but now they are earning over Rs 12,000 per month – an income that keeps them well off by village standards of living.

Likewise, the incomes all of the 60 families traditionally engaged in toy-making have increased with difference of degrees. In each of these households, the man makes the toys and the women and children paint them.

Increase in their incomes have attracted about 25 households in the neighbouring villages to toy manufacture.

The men in these households worked as carpenters earlier earning upwards of Rs 125 per day in the nearby Vijayawada. That they were attracted to making toys shows that it has become more paying.

Lanco constructed a common facility centre at a cost of Rs 12 lakh. It arranged for training of artisans in usage of natural vegetable dyes, instead of enamel paints, thereby improving their exportability.

It also arranged for training by National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) for development of contemporary toys. To enhance supply of white sanders, the ultra light and soft wood that is used by these artisans, Lanco is coordinating with Forest Department to raise plantations.

Apart from capacity building measures, Lanco boosted the pride of the artisans by making Kondapalli toys as their corporate gifts, sending a couple of artisans to World Telugu Federation Conference held in Singapore. Lanco is now coordinating with the State Government to send some artisans to Europe.

On market development front, Lanco sponsored stalls at various exhibitions throughout the country.

More significant measure is the funding for registration of Geographical Indication (GI). With such registration, toys made in other places cannot be passed off as Kondapalli toys and thereby protect the long term interests of these artisans.
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Commendable job by Lanco! more corporate bodies should involve themselves in cultural and community developments.

it's a good thing Lanco is doing this. sure it costs some money but this kinda stuff gives corporates and image makeover from being reffered to as money and now land grabbers by the Left. ppl will start realising their importance. that will kinda work against populist parties like the Left.

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/06/14/stories/2006061419900300.htm

Italian firm to invest in textile unit at Warangal

HYDERABAD: An Italian delegation led by Ettore Camozzi, board member, Camozzi Holding Spa, has evinced interest in investing Rs. 600 crores in a textile unit at Warangal...

Chief Coordinator of Camozzi Textiles A.S. Rao said the proposed unit in Warangal district would take up spinning, weaving and production of cotton and polyester textiles and garments, both for domestic consumption and exports. The unit was expected to generate employment for about 4,000 people.

Andhra floats JV for Rs 5, 500 cr gas grid

Hyderabad, June 14 In a move to enable easy extraction of natural gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin, the Andhra Pradesh government has decided to float a joint venture with the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Ltd (GSPCL) and the Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) for setting up a Rs 5,500 crore gas grid across the state.

According to KV Rao principal secretary, department of infrastructure, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) will be formed soon and the project is expected to achieve financial closure in the next two months. It will have an equity component of Rs 1,500 crore, he added.

“The IDFC has also agreed to arrange the term loan estimated at Rs 4,000 crore for the project besides participating in the equity,” Mr Rao said.

Initially, the proposed project will lay trunk lines between Kakinada-Hyderabad, Kakinada-Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada-Nellore and Hyderabad-Anantapur covering 1,500 kms.

According to officials, the project will be operational by the year 2008...

URL: http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=130599
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Good step! RIL or no RIL - AP would be self reliant in Gas.

yes, this is a good example. no gov't intervention. let the experts decide what's best in these kinds of situations. that's what's happening here. and gov't intervention is to the least in this kinda stuff. less red tape!!!!

The Economic Times Online
Printed from economictimes.indiatimes.com > News By Industry > Energy> Oil & Gas
ADAG co seeks nod for Rs 16k cr pipeline

AGENCIES[ FRIDAY, JUNE 16, 2006 03:25:39 AM]

NEW DELHI: Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Natural Resources (RNRL) has approached the government seeking permission to lay a Rs 16,000 crore pipeline to take natural gas from Reliance Industries-operated field off the Andhra coast to its power plant at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh.

“RNRL has applied for permission to lay a pipeline from Kakinada to Dadri,” an industry official said. The pipeline from Kakinada, the landfall point of the gas from KG-D6 block of RIL in Krishna Godavari basin, will pass through Hyderabad and onwards to Nagpur, Bhopal, Delhi and finally reach Dadri, where an Anil Ambani group firm is setting up a 5,600 MW power project.

The gas would also be used for additional power plants. RNRL would lay the pipeline in two years from the date of receiving permission.

Newindpress
Rail link to Rama’s place remains a myth

BHADRACHALAM: Lord Rama’s wait for a rail-head seems to be eternal. The long-felt need has been recognised by railway authorities, officials and politicos. Every politician assured to make the rail-link a reality, but things have remained as they are all these years.

Two proposals, one to lay a railway line to Bhadrachalam from Kovvur and another from Pandurangapuram station, 10 km from Bhadrachalam and the nearest rail-head and Sarapaka, which is on the other side of river Godavari, have been pending for several years. The survey work on both the projects has been completed.

Not only that. No efforts have been made to open even a railway reservation office in the town.

Parliament member Midium Babu Rao, however, says that though the Centre had allotted Rs 40 crore last year for construction of a railway line between Pandurangapuram and Sarapaka, the State Government failed to provide land for the same, thus allowing the funds to lapse.

Recently, a new forum has been set up in the temple town to fight for train facility from Kovvur in West Godavari. Demands are being raised for the past 12 years for the construction of railway track between Kovvur and Bhadrachalam and Pandurangapuram and Sarapaka to provide rail-link Bhadrachalam.

BJP leader Kodamasimham Pandurangacharyulu, who played a key role in the constitution of the forum, told this website's newspaper that the rail-link remained an unfulfilled dream only due to the complacency of political leaders.
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Another example of how AP failed in getting things done by IR

for some reason, AP doesn't have good relations with IR. i think you could say they've managed railway issues very well. i think it is lack of coordination among the authorities. in other states, new railway lines are seen are good news and development. but in our state, railway infrastructure is not really something to boast about. so, this issue can't be used by politicians for their vote bank.

such critical infrastucture issues need more marketing.

News From Webindia123.com
AP natural choice for gas reserves: CII
Vijayawada | June 17, 2006 4:33:53 PM IST

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has said Andhra Pradesh would be the natural choice to get first supplies of the gas reserves and efforts were being made to convince the agencies concerned in realising the goal.

Talking to newspersons here last evening, CII AP Chairman G Vivekanand said the CII has raised the issue at various forms, besides making representations to Reliance and to the Gujarat Government.

Dr Vivekanand said about 100 industrialists went in a delegation and made a plea to the Government recently.

He said the demand that AP should be the first beneficiary from Reliance's gas find in the Krishna-Godavari basin will continue to be the main focus of efforts being made by the state's industrialists...

Dr Vivekanand, who is also the Managing Director of Visaka Industries Ltd said there was a scope for development of textiles in this region, in view of rich cotton-growing fields and human resources.

Honda readies plan for 2nd car plant, Civic
[ Sunday, June 18, 2006 11:46:53 pmTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

NEW DELHI: This monsoon, Japan's Honda Motor Corp plans to shower big-ticket investment programmes in India.

Honda - which is preparing to unleash its new premium segment warrior Civic on the Indian roads on July 4 - is planning to set up a greenfield car-making facility in another state as part of efforts to spread its reach in the country.

The firm, sources told ToI, is exploring various sites in southern and western India to finalise the location for its second car plant in the country. Senior officials from Honda have visited Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, and meetings have been fixed with officials in Maharashtra next week.

"Discussions with various states are in the preliminary stages, with Honda officials collating information about the sites and sops that various states have to offer. Based on these information, Honda will finalise the location for new plant," a source said.

Though finer details of the new plant are yet to be frozen, industry insiders said the greenfield plant - expected to house the production lines for Honda's much-talked about premium compact car - would involve an investment of Rs 1,000-odd crore.

Honda's existing plant in Greater Noida produces the mid-sized City, premium sedan Accord, and the Civic. The firm has commissioned a Rs 400 crore expansion at the plant and plans to hike capacity to 100,000 units to meet demand for its cars.

Regarding Civic, sources said the car - to be priced in the Rs 10 lakh to Rs 12.5 lakh bracket - will be rolled out in two options, manual and automatic.

Economic Times: (Honda...)
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/quickies/msid-1660850.cms

The company is feverishly scouting for possible locations where it could set up its second manufacturing plant in India for manufacturing the small car. Its existing unit is located at Greater Noida near Delhi.

The second plant, which will see an investment of Rs 1,000 crore, is likely to be located near Chennai in Tamil Nadu or in Maharashtra.
TN or MH, they are still in our next door neighbourhood.
AP could still thrive and participate in this venture even as a parts supplier.

We have to start somewhere and make beginning.
so, at least 5 years down the line, we would catch a big fish.

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/06/23/stories/2006062315520300.htm

Textile processing park needed to attract industries
Proposal to lure textile units by sanctioning them 10 to 20 acres A lot many things depend on the scope of people coming to the local units

VIJAYAWADA: Industrialists, who are engaged in local textile and apparel development, have strongly favoured incorporation of a `processing park' in the Government's wider scheme to kick off textile and apparel industry in the vicinity of Vijayawada...

The district administration has come out with an elaborate plan to set up `Textile and Apparel Park' in nearly 2,000 acres near Kanchikacherla.

Land acquisition is being taken up and the proposal is to attract textile units by sanctioning them 10 to 20 acres.

More land will be allotted depending upon the capacity of the units...

Spinning mills

Quite a good number of spinning mills have come up in the recent years along National Highway 5 between the city and Chilakaluripet...

In the last two years, nearly 20 textile units have come up between Vijayawada and Chilakaluripet.

The reason is that the area is known as a rich cotton belt.

The spinning mills, which have come up in this stretch, have a capacity for 5 lakh spindles, providing nearly 5,000 jobs.

RTC complexes go abegging for shopkeepers

RAJAHMUNDRY: The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC), which is facing stiff competition from private buses, autos and other illicit operators, is losing some lakhs of rupees due to non-occupation of shopping complexes at the bus stations in East Godavari district.

The RTC constructed 187 shops in 21 bus stations including two A-Class - Kakinada and Rajahmundry - and eight B-Class bus stands in Peddapuram, Pithapuram, Samalkot, Jaggampet, Ramachandrapuram, Yeleswaram, Amalapuram and Ravulapalem towns.

While 11 C-Class bus stations are located in Kothapeta, Seetanagaram, Kadiyam, Dowleswaram, Gollaprolu, Pedapudi, Anaparthi, Kathipudi, Prathipadu, Payakaraopet and Draksharamam in the district.

Of them, 55 shopping complexes are lying vacant in B and C Class stations including 12 shops in Peddapuram and seven complexes in Pitapuram and the Corporation has been incurring a loss of about Rs 15 lakh per annum.

There is no public movement in eight bus stations as a few are located on the outskirts of the towns while buses are not entering into some terminals for operating as bypass services. Presently, the RTC is getting Rs 7.44 lakh income per month through rentals from shops in the district...

"The shop rentals in the bus stations are very high compared to other shops on the main roads. As several buses are operating through bypass roads, the movement of buses into the bus stations has deceased and the shop owners running fruit, books, juice stalls and canteens are suffering huge losses," said a shop owner.

Speaking to this website’s newspaper, APSRTC regional manager N Vevikananda said the management was calling tenders every month to lease out the shops but the tenderers were quoting less or the same amount quoted in the previous tenders. "As per the norms, we should not accept those tenders and the same was being intimated to the headquarters.
------------------------------------------------------------------
I think, these are just growing troubles.
one year from now, traffic will increase and business will flourish! :)

Caption: Work on the shopping centre going on at a brisk pace on the old Super Bazaar site in Visakhapatnam. The 15-crore project being constructed by Sweety Builders of Hyderabad, is expected to be completed in a year. Photo: K.R. Deepak June 09, 2006

http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/3051/imageloader1im.jpg

http://www.hindu.com/2006/06/24/stories/2006062415510500.htm




12 irrigation projects to be funded

Eight major and four medium irrigation projects are being added to the list for securing Central grants under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP). The projects are Gundlakamma, Thotapalli, Sriramsagar Flood Flow Canal, Swarnamukhi, Palemvagu, Taadipudi, Pushkaram, Bheema, Pulichintala and Koilsagar. Already nine projects are getting Central grants.

This decision was understood to have been taken at a review meeting of the irrigation projects by Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy with Major Irrigation Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah and officials.

Dr. Reddy asked the officials to secure Rs. 4,000 crores as Central grant and loan under AIBP. He complimented them for obtaining Rs. 1,060 crore grants last year under AIBP as against Rs. 788 crores secured by the Telugu Desam regime.

Funds allocated


Official told him that they were striving to get Rs. 2,500 crores in place of the minimum amount of Rs. 1,500 crores for this year. In the first quarter this year, Rs. 900 crores was expected to be sanctioned and there was no shortage of funds. The Government had already allocated funds for works to be taken up during the next three years.

Dr. Reddy wanted officials to prepare a scheme for the works so as to continue them up to 2009-10. He told them to expedite the works of 16 projects so that water for 2007-08 kharif could be released. A plan on the works should be finalised within a week, he stressed.

He reviewed the works of 11 major and six medium irrigations projects which are expected to release water to 7.5 lakh acres this year and expressed satisfaction over the pace.

The Chief Minister favoured a uniform policy for the entire ayacut, particularly in the case of lift irrigation projects. For this purpose officials decided to organise a meeting to be chaired by Dr. Reddy, to be preceded by a State-level workshop.





no wonder irrigation is prospering after YSR allocated Rs. 10,000 crore for this sector. but there are other areas like education which need more funding.
for next year's budget YSR is targeting around 12500 crore for irrigation. i say, take off 500 crores from irrigation and put that in education. most importantly, upgradation of all government universities is a necessity. OU, KU, AU, SVU need new infrastructure and facilities.

No kidding pding,
AP is far behind the other southern states in terms of literacy rates of the
general population. I am not as worried about higher education in AP as I am
about universal primary and secondary school education (though it is also
important to increase funding for higher education).

There is an urgent need to increase funding for primary education and focus
on improving retention rates in schools across the districts.

But putting money in irrigation (rather than in primary and secondary
education) would ensure more rural votes for YSR in the next elections. So it
is natural for him to orient his governments policies towards irrigation.

It is not his fault that the literacy rate in AP is 61% (according to 2001
census) and lower than the national average of 65%, that blame would have
to fall on the previous governments. But he has to make an effort to
improve it now. Come on YSR!

Why do I find no discussions about this in the print media in general?

News From Webindia123.com
Apex bags contract to digitize period UK newspapers
Guntur | June 25, 2006 12:46:08 PM IST

Apex Solutions Limited has bagged a prestigious contract from a leading library in London to digitize two million pages of British newspapers spanning 100 years from 1800 to 1900.

A press note here today said Apex had already completed digitization work on more than one lakh pages and delivered them to the library.

The newspapers reflected the political,social and cultural ethos of the time and the project will enable researchers and public the world over access to period British newspapers over the internet.

No kidding pding,
AP is far behind the other southern states in terms of literacy rates of the
general population. I am not as worried about higher education in AP as I am
about universal primary and secondary school education (though it is also
important to increase funding for higher education).

There is an urgent need to increase funding for primary education and focus
on improving retention rates in schools across the districts.

But putting money in irrigation (rather than in primary and secondary
education) would ensure more rural votes for YSR in the next elections. So it
is natural for him to orient his governments policies towards irrigation.

It is not his fault that the literacy rate in AP is 61% (according to 2001
census) and lower than the national average of 65%, that blame would have
to fall on the previous governments. But he has to make an effort to
improve it now. Come on YSR!

Why do I find no discussions about this in the print media in general?



national average is actually just 59%. the most important thing is to improve on the dropout percentage. there are lot of kids who go till 7th or 8th grade and then dropout. that might be due to various reasons. most important reason in agriculture. parents want kids to come work and earn money. once again, better facilities for irrigation and agri will prolly help in this area b/c parents might encourage more kids to pusue education. so, it's kinda inter-related. but def most of the work in education needs to be done directly with ppl, like for example: awareness campaigns.

farmers and lower income groups should realise that education is the only way out of poverty. whether it be professional or vocational education, education gives training and enables ppl acquire skills. so, the lower income group ppl especially in a'culture need to realise this.

but that again depends on the growth of manufacturing sector. gov't keeps saying, educate the kids and then there are no jobs for them. so, manufacturing intensive economy will help lift the low income ppl out of poverty. but the great Left of India will say labor is being expolited and we'll have movies which falsely show a revolution of labor against the "rich". this mindset has to go. we need to get on a massive reform oriented path......