Visakhapatnam has all the advantages to become a major manufacturing hub in the Make in India campaign, though there are also a few challenges to be dealt with, according to district collector, N. Yuvaraj.
He was speaking at a session on "Make in India - Made in Vizag" organised by the Vizag zone of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here on Friday. He said there was no land problem for the industry, as more than 9,000 acres was available and some more would be acquired near Anakapalle for future needs. There was also no power problem, and on the whole Visakhapatnam was a peaceful place and there was no unrest, he said.
He said the air and train connectivity was also good, and it would improve further in future. The Visakhapatnam-Chennai industrial corridor project would give a big boost to manufacturing in the district, with two major clusters at Atchyuthapuram and Nakkapalle.
Sanjit Singh Lamba, the Managing Director of Eisai Pharma India Ltd, said the stated objective of the Make in India campaign was to push the share of manufacturing in the GDP from the present 16 per cent to 25 per cent by 2022, creating 100 million jobs. "It is a very ambitious target, but let us not be euphoric about it. Labour reforms are urgently needed, and so are tax reforms to give the sector a boost. The manufacturing policies have to be suitably modified," he said.
Commodore Srikant B Kesnur, the Director of Maritime Warfare Centre of the Eastern Naval Command (ENC), said, "Vizag has the right maritime eco system to emerge as a major manufacturing centre for the Indian Navy and for warship building. Defence sector will give a big boost to the campaign."
Raghupathy Veeraswamy, the Chief Operating Officer of Brandix India Apparel City Private Ltd, said his company had set up the biggest apparel park in the county in Visakhapatnam district on 1,000 acres. At present, there are 14 units in the park, and the turnover is Rs 1,400 crore. He said 18,000 were working in the park, more than 14,000 of them being women. "We are working for women empowerment," he said.
Neeraj Sarda, the chairman of the CII Vizag zone, presided. G.S Shiv Kumar, the vice-chairman of CII, AP, and V. Murali Krishna, the vice-chairman of Vizag zone, also spoke.