Aiming to transform Visakhapatnam into the “Mumbai of the South” over the next seven years, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu today unveiled an ambitious vision to develop the Visakha Economic Region as the growth engine of the state, targeting a $120 billion economy from the region by 2032.
During a meeting with NITI Aayog officials, Naidu directed the identification of one lakh acres of land for various projects across the Visakha Economic Region. This region will encompass eight districts —Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Srikakulam, Anakapalli, Kakinada, East Godavari, Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR), and Manyam.
The Chief Minister instructed officials to conceptualize and implement projects that would stimulate economic activity across this 36,000 sq km zone, home to a population of 15.5 million. The region currently has a GDP of approximately $49 billion, and Naidu projected the potential to generate 20 to 24 lakh jobs by 2032.
During the review meeting at the Secretariat, Naidu proposed development centered around six ports, seven manufacturing nodes, 17 major agricultural zones, six service hubs, and 12 tourism hubs.
NITI Aayog officials presented a comprehensive PowerPoint presentation detailing plans based on seven key growth drivers: ports, IT, agriculture, tourism, healthcare, urban development, and infrastructure. A total of 41 priority projects have been shortlisted for implementation.
If successfully realized, the plan envisions the construction of 7.5 lakh housing units, 10,000 hotel rooms, 20 innovation centers,
10 colleges, 7,000 hospital beds,
industrial expansion across 20,000 hectares, 80 million sq ft of office space, and 60 million sq ft of warehousing capacity.
Naidu announced that new beach roads would be developed from Mulapeta to Visakhapatnam and from Visakhapatnam to Kakinada, with connections to national highways. “The coast is a treasure trove—we must leverage it fully,” he said. Tourism, he added, will be treated as a formal industry under a new investor-friendly policy.
With an eye on future employment, Naidu emphasized continuous skill training and a transition to “Work-from-Home” and Knowledge Economy models, targeting 20 lakh remote job opportunities. He also outlined plans to develop Visakhapatnam as a steel hub in collaboration with India’s top three steel firms.
The focus sectors include petrochemicals, gas grids, port development, petro-medical technology, shipbuilding, defense, electronics, clean tech, and labour intensive manufacturing. The IT sector alone is expected to generate 4–5 lakh jobs, supported by data centers, startups, and innovation hubs.
Infrastructure development will also include seven new railway projects, in addition to four ongoing ones, and nine road projects supporting manufacturing and port connectivity. The Vizag Metro, covering 77 km, is scheduled between 2028 and 2030.
On the sustainability front, Naidu stressed the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) to reduce transportation costs and committed to a future based on solar, wind, pumped hydro, battery storage, and green hydrogen. “Andhra Pradesh has abundant resources to support this vision. I seek NITI Aayog’s support to realize it,” he said.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Government of Andhra Pradesh, NITI Aayog, and the ISEG Foundation in the presence of the Chief Minister.
The meeting was attended by Energy Minister Gottipati Ravikumar, NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary Vijay Anand, representatives of the ISEG Foundation, and other senior officials.