Kakinada: Rice bowl set to be gas hub

Pensioner's Paradise, the name by which Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh is known, is fast becoming a misnomer.

The town is filling up with engineers and contractors, all working to bring to production the huge volumes of Reliance Industries' gas from an area 30 nautical miles off the town's coast.

"The population of this town will soon touch a million from the current 500,000-600,000. The slow pace of life is quickly changing and we will not be able to recognise this town a couple of years later," said Surya Prakash Gutta, chief operating officer of Kakinada Seaports Ltd, the company which runs the Kakinada Port.

Most of the engineers pouring into Kakinada are working on the gas receiving and processing terminal that Reliance is constructing at Gadimoga, around 30 km from here. 
 

EAST GODAVARI DISTRICT FACTFILE
Headquarters:	Kakinada
Area:	10,807 sq km
Population:	4.9 million
Urban population:	25%
Density:	451 per sq km
Literacy:	65.49%
Population distribution
Workers:	38.47%
Mining & Quarrying:	0.23%
Manufacturing (non-household) industries:	5.26%
Household industries:	3.25%
Construction:	1.08%
Services:	22.28%
Source: Andhra Pradesh government website

Reliance is spending close to Rs 10,000 crore to build the terminal, over an area of 214 acres. "The town of Kakinada is not just lucky, it is blessed," a Reliance official working at the gas terminal says, as he points out that there are over 10,000 workers at the terminal at any point of time.

"We have to work overtime to complete the terminal in time so gas production from the offshore block can begin. It's an immense task and we need all the men we can get," the official added.

The 214-acre gas terminal area houses water tanks and desalination plants which will supply clean water to four villages in the terminal's proximity. The Reliance official says the company has adopted the villages. "We provide basic medical facilities, school and free books to the residents," he says.

Acquiring land for the terminal, however, was not easy as the area is highly fertile, fed by the rivers Godavari and Krishna. At least three crops of paddy are grown in the area "" also known as the rice bowl of the state "" in a single year.

"There was a lot of problem in acquiring the land. But the government helped us somewhat," the official said, adding the land was bought at market rates and farmers were not paid a premium.

In Visakhapatnam, 150 km away, Joint Collector and Additional District Magistrate M Verrabrabmaiah says an amendment to the state Land Acquisition Act enables the district authorities and the state government to pay a premium of 100 per cent of the market value of the land to farmers.

Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) has also bought land adjacent to Reliance's terminal for a similar facility to process its gas from the shallow waters, off Kakinada. Construction work has not started, though. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation is also planning to acquire land for a similar terminal to process its K-G basin gas.

However, there are some who are not happy with the turn of events. "All of this acquisition of fertile land will finish us off," says MK Rao, who leads a retired life around the Gadimoga area, after working in Tanzania for over 20 years.

Meanwhile, Kakinada continues to wait for the consequence of these projects. In the 1990s, Nagarjuna Fertilisers and Chemicals and Godavari Fertilisers and Chemicals had opened two plants in the town.

"The people feel they did not benefit from the industries as much as they wanted to. Most are now waiting to see what Reliance will bring to their lives," said SV Ramarao, distributor for the Eenudu group of publications.

Some in Kakinada are converting their homes into guest houses to accommodate the nearly 2,000 foreign engineers expected to come to the town over the next six months.

And everyone is talking of the gas. Tatavarty Srinivasa Rao, chairman of the Jana Sikshana Samshtha, a non-government organisation, says there are two aspects to the gas.

"One is directly using it as cooking fuel. The other is an enhancement of the industrial process," he said, adding "these are exciting times to live in Kakinada."

Click to read: Boom Town-II - Rs 50,000 crore to flow into Kakinada