AP to provide exclusive industrial city for Japan

Andhra Pradesh government would allocate a separate industrial city for the Japanese in an attempt to attract investments from that country. 

In a meeting with officials from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu discussed the possible areas where his state could expect support from the agency. 

JICA officials said in the meeting that they would finish the master plan for Vizag-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC) by March. 

Carried out in synergy between the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and JICA, he said financing from the agency would fill critical gaps. 

The chief minister told JICA officials that they could help develop the master plan for the capital region beyond core capital. 

He added that Japanese investors could also support the Centre’s Sagarmala project (from Vizag to Kakinada) and develop the state into a logistics hub.

Naidu also asked JICA to focus on integrated development, especially from Krishnapatnam to Chennai, to which JICA officials responded by saying the agency can facilitate accelerated cooperation with ASEAN. As a step towards e-Governance, the Chief Minister also met with Finance Department Officials over the plan to implement Comprehensive Financial Management System (CFMS). 

CFMS would make information such as salary, expenditure and budget management, dispersement of funds for welfare schemes and public works, debt information and accounts available online. The system would be piloted in Guntur and Chitoor districts from this month and would be implemented in other districts by June in a phased manner.