Gas find will transform Andhra's economy: USIBC

Thursday, 25 September 2008, 19:30 IST
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Hyderabad: With its huge gas reserves the Krishna-Godavari basin would be the next North Sea and transform the economy of Andhra Pradesh and possibly the economy of India, the US-India Business Council (USIBC) president Ron Somers said here Thursday. Somers was addressing a session on India-US Economic Cooperation organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on the occasion of the visit of USIBC executive mission. He said 48-inch diameter pipeline being laid by Reliance from the region to different parts of Andhra Pradesh and to other Indian cities would provide fuel to the industry and lit up homes, transforming the economy. "It is a tremendous opportunity," he said. Somers appreciated the efforts of the state government to develop Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) project over 250 sq km area between Visakhapatnam and Kakinada in the coastal Andhra. B.P. Acharya, chairman and managing director of AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC), informed the USBIC delegation that an investment of $38 billion was committed in the PCPIR, which would nearly double the chemical industry in India, presently estimated at $42 billion. Minister for Major Industries J. Geeta Reddy said Andhra Pradesh was expected to be $300 billion economy by 2010. "The state's economy is poised to grow at 10.37 percent during the current fiscal though inflation is a bit of concern," she said. Highlighting the investment opportunities in Andhra Pradesh, she said the state was developing 272 industrial estates. "As many as 91 Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are coming up in the state." The delegation of executives evinced keen interest to invest in India's farm-to-market supply chain, hoping to unleash productivity and unlock the vast potential of the Indian agricultural sector. The delegation met Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy and discussed how US companies can transfer technologies that will make a meaningful impact on the AP agriculture sector, the gains in infrastructure development achieved, and in light of the downstream opportunities that will flow from the Reliance gas pipeline.
Source: IANS