)
The Andhra Pradesh government is signing four MoUs with Japanese global business giant Sumitomo Corporation on Thursday and one of them corresponds to the setting up of a 4,000-Mw ultra super critical power project as a joint venture project in collaboration with the state power utility AP Genco.
Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who is currently in Japan on a high-profile visit for the purpose of attracting the investments to the state, is betting big on Sumitomo's expertise ranging from power to agriculture to make a mark in the state.
According to the officials, the company would set up the ultra super critical thermal power project designed to run on the imported coal sourced from Australia, in the northern most coastal district of Srikakulam. The company would also bring the necessary funding on its own. The exact equity holding in the project by each of the two partners, Sumitomo and AP Genco, is yet to be worked out, they said.
The government is signing another major MoU with the company for revamping the agriculture sector under which Sumitomo would study the critical gaps in the existing agriculture practices right from the post-harvest stage up to the food processing and plan for the improvement by bringing the equipment, technology and modern practices to the doorsteps of the farmers.
The government is planning to sign two other MoUs pertaining to the development of a food processing park and the master planning requirements of the new capital city.
The officials however refused to give the details of the investment involved in these projects, stating that these would be worked out after the signing of the MoUs.
The AP government is signing two more MoUs, one with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Government of Japan, on industrial innovation and environmental fronts and the other with the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation (NEDO), Japan, for bringing energy-efficient technologies to the state, according to the officials.
Accompanied by a big contingent of officials and businessmen, Naidu visited the Panasonic plant on his second day in Japan besides interacting with a host of Japanese businessmen, according to a government statement.
