Andhra Pradesh, with a coastline of 974 km, is accelerating the development of its port (non-major port). According to a senior official of the Andhra Pradesh Maritime Board (APMB), work on the forthcoming four new ports in Andhra Pradesh, involving an investment of around Rs 120 billion, is in full swing.

Ravindranath Reddy, Deputy CEO, APMB expects the four new ports of Ramayapatnam, Bhavanapadu, Kakinada Gateway port and Machilipatnam to be operational by the end of 2024. This will give a great impetus to the social and economic development of the state,

Construction of Ramayapatnam Port is progressing at a rapid pace after the foundation stone was laid in September by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. The financial closure for Machilipatnam Port is nearing completion, while for Bhavanapadu Port, land acquisition and financial closure are in final stages, the official said.

Reddy said that in order to boost rapid economic development, except Kakinada Gateway Port, the remaining three ports will be occupied by the state government itself. After the split, Andhra Pradesh is left with coastline and agriculture hence these are areas of focus.

These ports are being developed with a huge land complex so that industrial investment can be attracted to the state given the low cost of water transport compared to other modes of transport, he added.

After completion of the four future ports, Andhra Pradesh will have seven ports including Gangavaram, Kakinada and Krishnapatnam. The state has plans to develop a port or fishing port every 50 km along the coast to boost both employment and economic growth.

In addition, nine state-of-the-art fishing ports are being developed in the state, including Uppada, Visakhapatnam, Odarevu and Kothapatnam. These are highly advanced jetties costing Rs 3.5 billion each.