Dubai to participate in Hyderabad's Knowledge Corridor

The Jebel Ali Port of Dubai will develop the Special Economic Zone near Gangavaram port in Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh on the lines of the existing Free Trade Area in Dubai.

This was one of the several agreements reached during Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy's week-long tour of Israel, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

Dr Reddy, who returned to Hyderabad on Tuesday, told newsmen that the government of Dubai has also agreed to participate in the proposed multi-crore rupee Knowledge Corridor in Hyderabad as well as the Outer Ring Road project around the state capital.

"They will make concept contribution for the Knowledge Corridor," he said and pointed out that details will be worked out during the proposed visit by a team of officials from Dubai shortly.

The agreement for development of the Visakhapatnam Special Economic Zone by the Jebel Ali port is significant because Jebel Ali is already involved in the development of the Gangavaram satellite port near the Visakhapatnam port.

The chief minister said he was very much impressed by the trading activity by 5,000 companies in the 50,000-acre Free Trade Zone in Dubai. The present area of 7,000 acres for the proposed Special Economic Zone in Visakhapatnam will be further expanded by acquiring more land.

"The Dubai government will bring in a lot of internationally renowned companies and expertise with them," he said.

The Dubai government has also agreed to work on concept planning for municipalities with the purpose of improving the standard of life of the common citizens.

Experts from Dubai will analyse the strengths and weaknesses of municipalities in the state and give their proposals.

The Ras Al Khaimah-based world's largest ceramic plant R K Ceramics has also agreed to expand its proposed project at Peddapuram in East Godavari district.

In addition to the Rs 200 crore ceramics plant, the Gulf-based company also decided to set up a Rs 60 crore sanitary ware plant in the same area.

In Israel, the chief minister's focus was on drip and sprinkler irrigation technology, water management and food processing industry.

"A group of Israeli entrepreneurs are visiting the state on July 18 to look at our food processing industry and explore the opportunities," he explained.

He pointed out that Andhra Pradesh accounted for the production of 10 million tonnes of fruit and vegetables per annum, but only 5% of it was being processed for exports because of lack of post-harvesting technology.

Tahal Engineering Group, a global leader in the water management technique, has agreed to study and help the state in waste water management techniques.

On the basis of his talks with Tahal, the chief minister announced two initiatives for the use of recycled municipal water for use in parks in Hyderabad.

He said that all the new parks will have pipelines connected to the recycled water instead of the present system of using tankers for bringing water.

The project will be implemented on a public-private partnership basis and the cost was being worked out.