Big-ticket firms line up Rs 2,100cr for Krishna district

The state government's efforts and incentives to woo industrialists seem to be paying dividends, with major industrial houses lining up at least Rs 2,100 crore for their units in Krishna district.

Most of them are keen to set up their units beside the Vijayawada-Hyderabad national highway. Consequently, land prices have escalated in that area.

B Pandu Ranga Rao, general manager, Krishna District Industries Centre, told Business Standard that right now, Singhal group of Punjab had sought land at Kanchikacherla for its Rs 1,000-crore steel unit.

It has also sought power and sales tax rebates and a railway line from Khammam. Madras Cements is setting up a bioenergy plant and a thermal power plant at Jaggaiahpet at an investment of Rs 300 crore. The company is also expanding mining area in 200 acres.

The Aditya Birla group has applied for allotment of 100 acres of land at Kanchikacherla or Jaggaiahpet to set up a Rs 200-crore teflon fabric industry while Prime Textiles plans to set up a Rs 200-crore spinning mills in 100 acres at Kanchikacherla. Rao said that the government had also permitted the firm to start a cogeneration power plant and offered some concessions.

According to him, the number of large and medium scale industries in the district had gone up from 76 to 82 and that of small industries from 7,400 to 7,800 in recent months. Small units have come up at Jaggaiahpet, Kondapalli, Gannavaram and Nuzvid.

He said that the number of employees, both direct and indirect, in big industries would increase from 68,000 to 93,000 and that of small units from 1.6 lakh to 2 lakh after new industries become operational.

A sum of Rs 30 crore is being spent on providing infrastructure and common facilities in Jawahar Autonagar in Vijayawada under a central-aided cluster programme.

The big industries which are coming up include Sentini group's Rs 100-crore molasses extraction (from grain) unit at Kanchikacherla, KCP's Rs 100-crore cement factory between Nandyal and Jaggaiahpet, a Rs 30-crore Gset alloys castings unit at Gannavaram and a Rs 100-crore asbestos factory at Mylavaram.

Other major industries are the Rs 10-crore Coromandal Paints unit at Nuzvid, a Rs 25-crore spinning factory at Jaggaiahpet, a cement grinding unit of Nagarjuna group's NCL Estates at Kondapalli, a Rs 10-crore ready-to-eat-food export unit of Priya Foods, a Rs 25-crore spinning mills by industrialist Sridhar Mandava at Gannavaram, and a Rs 2-crore craft paper unit at Nuzvid proposed by an NRI. Besides, KCP Sugars has undertaken a Rs 2-crore expansion project at Vuyyur

Rao said two cold storages were being constructed at Nandigama at an investment of Rs 2.5 crore each, while two more storages were under construction at Ibrahimpatnam.

A Rs 2-crore oil mill was being constructed at Gannavaram apart from the four other. While a sponge iron unit at Jaggaiahpet has increased its capacity in two phases with an outlay of Rs 30 crore, another Rs 15 crore sponge iron unit is coming up at the same place. Seven new food-processing units were opened in the district. Hemadri Cements, which was closed, was opened at Jaggaiahpet recently.