Centre committed to AP's growth: Sonowal

Visakhapatnam: Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal on Thursday said various projects undertaken under the Prime Minister's Gati Shakti, Sagarmala and Bharatmala projects will ensure faster evacuation of cargo by ensuring hassle-free movement of vehicles and promised wholehearted support for development of Andhra Pradesh.

Winding up his two-day visit to Visakhapatnam, the Minister reviewed the performance of Visakhapatnam Port Authority and asked the officials to fully gear up to make optimum use of its facilities and remain globally competitive by augmenting its infrastructure.

During the visit to the port, the Minister inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for projects with an investment of Rs 55 crore. He inaugurated a mobile container scanner set up by the port to scan the containers for radioactive materials at an estimated cost of Rs 30 crore. He also inaugurated Sagarmala Convention Hall at Saligramapuram. The port built the convention hall at an estimated cost of Rs 25 crore, which is towards the welfare of the employees of the port.

Sonowal said projects initiated under the Gati Shakti will definitely ensure removal of all bottlenecks and result in timely completion of the projects since it aims at linking all the organisations like road and railways. He also emphasised that today's world will offer opportunities to only the best performers.