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Canadian infrastructure companies have gained great expertise in the field and are very keen to participate in the many projects coming up in Andhra Pradesh in the aftermath of bifurcation. It will be mutually beneficial for local companies to tie up with their Canadian counterparts, according to Consul and Senior Trade Commissioner (South India), Stanley Gomes, from the Canadian trade office.
He was addressing local industrialists at an interactive session organised here on Tuesday by the Confederation of Indian Industry.
He said the Canadian pension funds had already invested over $4 billion in the Indian market in infra and real estate projects. Over 650 Canadian companies were active in India, and of them over 100 companies offered infrastructure products and services.
"As Andhra Pradesh is embarked on a mission to build up a new capital and develop several smart cities in the State, Canadian companies would be useful partners in the endeavour. Canada has also developed a very useful public-private partnership (PPP) model for infra projects which could be replicated in the Indian context with suitable modifications," he said.
Ports, airports, infra projects
Visakhapatnam port chairman Krishna Babu said the AP Government was concentrating on building up ports, airports, roads and other infrastructure projects in a big way after bifurcation.
The new capital and supporting infrastructure would have to be built up, and "it opens up very exciting opportunities and avenues for both Indian and Canadian companies to come together and take up some of the projects. The Union Government is also contemplating a special status for AP and therefore it may be the right opportunity."
Port development
Referring to port development in the State, he said both Visakhapatnam and Gangavaram ports - the first in the public sector and the second in the private - were adding to their capacities and capabilities. The other ports such as Kakinada and Krishnapatnam were also on the growth path.
A floating LNG terminal with a capacity of 3.8 million tonnes per annum was being set up at Kakinada and another land-based LNG terminal was under construction at Gangavaram. These projects, along with the Petroleum, Chemical, Petro-chemical Investment Region (PCPIR) coming up between Visakhapatnam and Kakinada and the Visakhapatnam-Chennai industrial corridor, would transform the State.
Krishna Babu said the rail network in the State would have to be improved to expedite the cargo evacuation from the ports.
Arup Datta, president of Arup Datta Architect Ltd, and Vikram Jain, trade commissioner from the Canadian trade office, also spoke. Neeraj Sarda, Vice-Chairman of CII, Visakhapatnam zone, conducted the proceedings.
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