The Andhra Pradesh government has requested the Centre to speed up the process of establishing institutions in the state under Schedule 13 of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014. AP officials held a meeting with Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla on the central institutions to be established in the state as per the Act, including the establishment of a steel plant in YSR district, development of Dugarajapatnam port, besides other issues.
Among other institutions, a petroleum university, agriculture university, and national institute of disaster management are yet be established in the state as per the Act.
Though work on Visakhapatnam-Chennai industrial corridor has started, the progress is very slow. Officials urged the home secretary to ensure that the project is completed at the earliest. There has also been no feasibility study to establish a greenfield crude oil refinery and petrochemical complex in the state.
The Reorganisation Act also promised to study the possibility of developing Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, and Tirupati airports. While work on the proposed Bhogapuram airport is progressing slowly, the other two airports need to developed to international standards. Establishment of a new railway zone with Visakhapatnam as headquarters was also proposed but the work is yet to begin. Chief secretary KS Jawahar Reddy, senior officials Y Srilakshmi, Premachandra Reddy, and SS Ravat represented the state at the meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday.
