China willing to partner in proposed Andhra Pradesh manufacturing zone

HYDERABAD: China has come forward to partner in the one of the proposed National Investment and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZ) to be set up in Andhra Pradesh, Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said here today.

China would provide both technical and investment support for one of the NIMZs, proposed in Chittoor, Medak and Prakasam districts, the Union Minister told Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy during a meeting here tonight.

Each NIMZ was expected to attract an investment of Rs 30,000 crore.

The Chief Minister and the Union Commerce Minister, discussed various projects proposed to be set up in Andhra Pradesh with the support of the Government of India, a release from the Chief Minister's Office said.

The release said that the foundation stone for the Rs 100- crore National Institute for Footwear Design and Development would be laid at Gachibowli here in the last week of this month.

The Union Minister suggested that the state government completed the process of identifying a private partner for taking up the World Trade Centre (WTC) project at Visakhapatnam under the public-private partnership mode.

The proposed WTC would be taken up at a cost of Rs 35 crore of which the Centre would grant Rs 20 crore and the balance would be borne by the state.