Jan 9: A golden day in AP’s history
Mark this day, the ninth day of January of this new year 2019. This is a special day in the history of the Sun Rise State of Andhra Pradesh. Whether one noticed it or not, this one single day saw AP sign MoUs worth more than Rs 1 lakh crore to firmly place the State in the orbit of development as never before. The untiring efforts of the Chief Minister, N Chandrababu Naidu, fructified to launch these projects despite the hurdles being created by the Centre for AP development.
If the first one is the Asia Pulp and Paper which signed the MoU with the State government to set up world's biggest paper and pulp unit in Prakasam district, the second one also marked the development and growth of the district in the form of unveiling of pylon of Ramayapatnam Port. Put together, these three projects, including that of the world's first 100 per cent renewables powered data centre park in Vizag, are worth more than Rs 1 lakh crore and have the potential to create more than 1.5 lakh direct and indirect jobs silencing critics forever.
The Vizag data centre park is being led by Adani Group with an investment of Rs 70,000 crore in creating in excess of one lakh jobs from the data centres and the allied ecosystem over 20 years. The data centre parks will have a capacity of up to 5 GW to position AP as the East Coast data centre hub for not only India but entire South East Asia. These centres will help promote data centres, cloud infrastructure and allied technology industries as well as renewable energy.
The plan to develop three campuses offering complementing value and together providing required redundancy and reliability to data centre operators. It is complementary to another important field in making the State go green as these parks will be powered by 100 per cent renewable energy that will be generated within the State of Andhra Pradesh thereby accelerating the renewable target goals put forward by the State.
Date centres are fundamental building blocks for enabling every aspect of the critical technology infrastructure that India needs to further accelerate its growth. The pulp unit too is set to change the face of the backward Prakasam district forever. There was much criticism against the Chief Minister, for choosing Amaravati as the new capital of the State. The Opposition alleged all kinds of things to it. But Naidu remained unruffled by it all. In all, 50,000 farmers growing pulp material will benefit here. Development is always an ongoing process.
We cannot say, look, this is the end of it and there is no beyond to it. Some of these are long-term and some, short-term ones. It is the holistic view that matters. Development is also not a uniface one. Unless one sorts out the strengths of the districts systematically and the available material to develop the right infrastructure there, it is not possible to post growth. AP is blessed with the leadership of Naidu who is fighting against heavy odds created by the Centre and those from within the State. Kudos to him. Forge ahead sir with Godspeed!