Asian Development Bank (ADB) has committed to loans and grants worth $631 million to the 800 Kilometer Visakhapatnam – Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC). The Corridor connecting four economic hubs and nine industrial clusters, is billed as the first industrial corridor to be developed along India’s coastline. Aimed at spurring development on India’s eastern coast and creating seamless trade links with South and Southeast Asia
The corridor touches nine districts of the State, it will have four major nodes at Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Gannavaram-Kankipadu (near the new capital city of Amaravati) and Yerpadu-Srikalhastri and will be completed by 2020. VCIC will pass through nine districts in AP and connect three major ports and 15 non-major ports while CBIC is planned as a global manufacturing corridor with the focus on pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, mineral and mineral-based industries, and IT and IT-enabled services sector.
The state government is planning excellent infrastructure to boost the prospects of this corridor which includes 138 km of state highways and roads, effluent and water treatment plants, 488 km of drinking water pipes, 47 km of storm drains, 10 power substations, and 281 km of power transmission and distribution lines. Once completed, this will be a major growth center for AP.
