Eight districts became part of the Visakha Economic Region. The government aimed to develop this region as the growth engine of Andhra Pradesh. The target was to create a $120 billion economy in the region by 2032.

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu chaired a review meeting on Friday with NITI Aayog officials at the Secretariat. He stressed the need to transform Visakhapatnam into another Mumbai within seven years.

Visakha Economic Region covered Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Srikakulam, Anakapalli, Kakinada, East Godavari, Alluri Sitharamaraju, and Manyam districts.

The Chief Minister reviewed the situation and instructed officials to prepare projects that would boost economic activity across the region. He directed them to identify one lakh acres for various projects.

The Visakha Region spanned 36,000 square kilometers. It had a population of 15.5 million. Its current GDP stood at around $49 billion. The Chief Minister stated that the region could generate 20 to 24 lakh jobs by 2032. He emphasised that the region would play a crucial role in the state's future growth.

The Chief Minister proposed development centered around six ports, seven manufacturing nodes, 17 major agricultural zones, six service hubs, and 12 tourism hubs. NITI Aayog officials presented a detailed PowerPoint presentation.

The officials outlined plans around seven growth drivers: ports, IT, agriculture, tourism, healthcare, urban development, and infrastructure. They identified 41 key projects to prioritise for implementation.

If these plans were implemented in the next seven years, the region could see the construction of 7.5 lakh housing units, 10,000 hotel rooms, up to 20 innovation centers, 10 colleges, 7,000 hospital beds, industrial development across 20,000 hectares, 80 million sq. ft. of office space, and 60 million sq. ft. of warehousing capacity. The officials conveyed this information to the Chief Minister.

The Chief Minister said, “We will develop beach roads from Mulapeta to Visakhapatnam and Visakhapatnam to Kakinada. These will be connected to national highways. The coast is a treasure trove -- we must leverage it fully. Tourism is being treated as an industry, and our new policy is very investor-friendly.”

The meeting also discussed developing Visakhapatnam as a steel hub in collaboration with the country’s top three steel firms. The focus also included petrochemicals, gas grid, port development, petrochem-medical tech, shipbuilding, defence, electronics, clean tech, and labour-intensive manufacturing.

The state set a target of four to five lakh jobs in the IT sector over the next seven years. The plan emphasised setting up data centers, startups, and innovation hubs. The officials noted that, in addition to four ongoing railway projects, seven new railway projects would be completed by 2032. The state would also launch nine new road projects to support manufacturing nodes and ports.

The meeting also discussed the Vizag Metro project, which would cover 77 km and was scheduled for completion between 2028 and 2030.

Minister Gottipati Ravikumar, NITI Aayog CEO B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary Vijay Anand, representatives of the ISEG Foundation, and other senior officials attended the meeting.