BIZ-PORT-PAPER

AP CM unveils pylon to mark foundation stone laying of port

Amaravati, Jan 9 (PTI): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister

N Chandrababu Naidu Wednesday unveiled a pylon, marking the

foundation-stone laying for the development of Ramayapatnam

port at Ravuru village in Prakasam district.

He also witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of

Understanding between Asia Pulp and Paper, an Indonesian

company, and the AP Economic Development Board for the setting

up of the "worlds biggest" paper producing unit at an

investment of Rs 24,500 crore (3.5 billion USD).

The state government has formed a Special Purpose

Vehicle, the AP Maritime Infrastructure Development

Corporation Limited, to develop the Ramayapatnam port at a

cost of Rs 4,240 crore (phase-1) with eight berths.

The port, proposed to be developed on a 3,092 acre

site, will have a capacity of 40 million tonnes per annum,

according to Director of Ports, Koya Praveen.

RITES, a Government of India undertaking, is expected

to submit the detailed project report for the port by the end

of June this year and the tender process for the development

work will be completed by December, according to Praveen.

"Construction work is expected to begin in January

2020 and the port operations are likely to commence in January

2023," he added.

Meanwhile, the EDB claimed the proposed paper unit of

APP, a subsidiary of Indonesian giant Sinar Mas Group, would

be the largest in the world with a single-point investment of

3.5 billion USD.

It will have a total capacity of 4.3 million tonnes

per annum, wherein ivory boards, art boards, duplex, copier,

wood-free paper and cup stocks will be manufactured, an

official release said.

The project would create 4,000 direct jobs and another

12,000 indirect jobs.

The release said the project would be completed in two

phases, but did not specify the timelines, even as the Chief

Minister asked APP to complete it within 20 months.