Andhra Pradesh is poised to emerge as a globally competitive maritime and logistics hub and can become India's principal maritime gateway to ASEAN, East Asia and the wider Indo-Pacific, Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal told the 31st CII Partnership Summit in Visakhapatnam on Thursday, according to a Press Information Bureau (PIB) release.

Source: PIB via Maritime News

"If Hyderabad became Cyberabad, Andhra Pradesh today has the opportunity to become India's Maritime Gateway to the East," Sonowal said, pointing to the state's roughly 1,053-kilometre coastline along the Bay of Bengal, its access to major international shipping routes and its proximity to key Asian manufacturing and trading economies.

₹30,000-crore shipbuilding cluster at Dugarajapatnam

The centrepiece announcement was a proposed greenfield shipbuilding cluster at Dugarajapatnam, which has received in-principle approval under the National Shipbuilding Mission. The project envisages an investment of approximately ₹30,000 crore with a targeted annual capacity of 1.2 million gross tonnes, IANS reported.

Source: IANS via HiIndia

A Centre-State special purpose vehicle involving the Andhra Pradesh Maritime Board and the Visakhapatnam Port Authority has been formed to take the project forward, the minister said. In-principle approval and the formation of the SPV are early institutional steps; the cluster is a proposal at this stage, not an operational facility.

Sonowal also noted that the foundation stone was laid on Wednesday for projects worth more than ₹560 crore at Visakhapatnam Port, and that four greenfield port projects are under construction at Mulapeta, Machilipatnam, Ramayapatnam and Kakinada.

He outlined three ambitions for the state: becoming a leading destination for port-led development, emerging as a globally competitive shipbuilding and ship-repair hub, and positioning itself as India's eastern maritime gateway. The two-day CII Partnership Summit is being held in Visakhapatnam on November 12-13 under the theme "Navigating the New World Order."