The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet cleared a proposal in which land allotments cleared were 62.18 acres at Mylavaram in Kadapa district to the Handlooms and Textiles Department for the setting up of a textile park.

Around 21 acres at Serikolam village in Parigi Mandal of Anantapur district for the establishment of an industrial park and a multi-product SEZ at the rate of Rs.3 lakh per acre and 44.78 acres for a Mega Food Park at Settigunta village in Railway Koduru Mandal of Kadapa district at Rs.9.50 lakh per acre.

In addition, 75 acres had been allotted for expanding the Visakhapatnam Special Economic Zone at Pudimadaka (Rs.10 lakh per acre) and Duppituru villages in Atchutapuram Mandal (Rs.12 lakh per acre) and 61.56 acres in R.Anantapuram village in Madakasira Mandal of Anantapur district (Rs. 90,000 per acre) for establishing an MSME Park.

The proposal is basically to establish Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) for implementing State-sponsored Smart Cities Scheme in Anantapur, Eluru, Kurnool, Ongole and Srikakulam as per the guidelines of the Central government’s Smart Cities Mission.

The Cabinet also resolved to set up an SPV called ‘Guntur/Vijayawada Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited’ for the two cities.

The Cabinet met at the Interim Government Complex at Velagapudi in Guntur district.

Other important decisions were development of a multi-purpose recreation and commercial centre as part of the Vijayawada City Square project in the public-private partnership mode at Swaraj Maidan and its surroundings spanning 27.5 acres. The detailed project report would be prepared under the aegis of a Cabinet subcommittee.

A 35 per cent hike in the wages of the workers of the Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty and an extra 10 per cent performance-linked incentive benefiting 5,038 Velugu workers.

Another decision was to move a Bill in the Assembly for the establishment of a Tourism and Culture Board instead of forming it through an ordinance.