New Delhi: Vice-president Venkaiah Naidu will on Tuesday inaugurate about Rs1,930 crore worth of National Highway (NH) projects in Andhra Pradesh and lay the foundation stone for a stretch of National Waterways–4 (NW-4) on the Krishna river.
He will also lay the foundation stone for another 250km worth of NH projects, which will cost over Rs2,539 crore. Road transport and water resources minister Nitin Gadkari and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu will be present on this occasion, a shipping ministry statement said.
The vice-president will lay the foundation stone for the development of the Muktyala to Vijayawada stretch of the Krishna River in Vijayawada, it said. As per the MoU signed with Andhra Pradesh on 14 April 2016, NW-4 in Andhra Pradesh is proposed to be developed in three phases. The Phase-I of 82km covers Muktyala to Vijayawada (Krishna river). The second phase is from Vijayawada to Kakinada (Eluru canal and Kakinada canal) and the Rajahmundry to Polavaram stretch of the Godavari river (233km). The third phase is Commamur Canal, Buckingham canal and balance stretches of the Krishna and Godavari Rivers (573km).
The project will help boost the region’s economic growth and facilitate the development of the capital city, Amravati. Three cargo terminals are proposed to be built at Muktyala, Ibrahimpatnam and Harishchandrapur, while four passenger terminals are to be built at Durga Ghat, Bhawani Island, Vedadari, and Amravati on NW- 4 in Phase-I. The DPR (detailed project report) for construction of these seven terminals has been completed.
NW-4 was declared in November 2008 for 1078km, and later extended to 2,890km.