Economy of Visakhapatnam

Areal view of Visakhapatnam city

Visakhapatnam is the largest city of Andhra Pradesh and the 10th largest city by
GDP in India with $26 billion
with CAGR of 16% [1][2] Fishing industry, road–rail connectivity, many heavy
industries like Vizag Steel, GAIL,
Hindustan Shipyard, Visakhapatnam Steel Plant etc., are the factors that made the
city into an industrial hub,
from a small hamlet.[3] Tourism also plays an important role in generating revenue,
with numerous tourist
destinations in and around the city.[4] Blessed with a natural harbour and one of
the largest ports of India, sea
trade was made possible with other countries which also boosts the economy.[5]
With a population of around 30 lakhs, visakhapatnam is the finance capital of
andhra pradesh.
Visakhapatnam is also top 10th richest city in India.
http://www.hellotravel.com/stories/top-10-richest-cities-in-india

Fisheries

Fishermen at work, Visakhapatnam

Fishing is a major occupation in Visakhapatnam, as many fishermen depend on fishing
for their livelihood. The
fishing harbour at Visakhapatnam Port Trust is one of the biggest in the coastal
corridor of Andhra Pradesh and
also exports seafood such as Tuna.[3][6] Fish preserving by drying, processing and
curing activities takes place at
the harbour. The dried fish is sent to markets in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and
Orissa, and also exported to Sri
Lanka, Singapore, Burma and others.[7] Ice factories in and outside the
Visakhapatnam Fishing Harbour can
produce tonnes of ice, catering to the needs of the fishermen and also provides
industrial employment.[8][9]
Ports

The City, overlooking seaport

Visakhapatnam Port is one of the largest cargo handling ports in India. It can
accommodate 150,000 DWT
vessels and draft up to 17 m (56 ft).[10][11] The port during 2013-14 period,
handled 58 million tonnes of cargo and
also a cape size vessel in the outer harbour. Neighboring ports, current projects,
decline in iron ore exports,
Gangavaram Port, lead to loss of cargo to Visakhapatnam Port.[12]
A ₹13000 (US$200) crores modernisation and expansion program of the port is
underway, to increase the
capacity to 130 million tonnes by 2016–17.[13] Products moved through the port
include petroleum, steel,
minerals, and foods.[14]
The inauguration of the Gangavaram Port, located 15 km away from the Visakhapatnam
Port, has led to a
significant diversion of traffic away from Visakhapatnam. It has the capacity of
accommodating ocean liners of
200,000–250,000 DWT. The Visakhapatnam Port Trust plans to develop a satellite port
at Bheemunipatnam to
reduce the traffic.[15]

SEZs and Industrial parks

There are Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and industrial corridors such as
Visakhapatnam Special Economic
Zone (VSEZ),[16] APSEZ, APIIC, Aganumpudi Industrial Park, Visakha Dairy, JNPC.[17]
Brandix Apparel City,
are located in and around the city. APIIC, is special economic zone for industries
such as Pokarna Limited,
Nagarjuna AgriChem, Abhijit Ferro Alloys etc. Brandix India Apparel City, a
textile-based SEZ in
Atchutapuram is situated in an area covering 1,000 acres (400 ha).[18] This SEZ has
textile manufacturering
companies like Pioneer Elastic Fiber, Quantum Clothing etc.[19]
Drugs and pharmaceuticals
Ramky Pharma City (India) Limited, renamed as Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City, is a
Public Private Partnership
between Government of Andhra Pradesh and Ramky Group. It is a special purpose
entity, setup for the
manufacturing of Bulk Drugs and Pharmaceuticals. It is the first industrial
township in India, spread over an
extent of 2,400 acres (970 ha) with 102 companies and 8698 employees, presently in
operational.[20] PharmaZell
of Germany and Eisai Pharma of Japan, French collaboration with SNF Ltd, and joint
US venture Aptuit Laurus
Labs are the major companies in the pharma city.[21][22]

Heavy industries

Hindustan shipyard
The defense administered Hindustan Shipyard Limited, built the first ship of India
in 1948, which was named as
Jala Usha and also built 167 various size of ships.[23] The ports and shipyard in
the city led to the establishment
of several large scale industries such as, GAIL, RINL, HPCL, BHEL, Hindustan Zinc,
Dredging Corporation of
India, Coromandel Fertilizers, Reliance and Brandix etc.[24][25]

Steel plant
Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, whose corporate entity RINL is the second largest state-
run steel industry. The
capacity of the plant has been upgraded to 6.3MT, and it covers an area of 20,000
acres (81 km2). It is planned
to become a 20MT plant in the future, the largest plant in a single location. The
plant had revenues of ₹144570
million (US$2 billion) for 2011–2012 and has about 17,800 employees.[26]

Software industry

Tech Mahindra Development Centre

The ITES and IT sector is growing at its pace in the city of Visakhapatnam, the
generated revenue from these
sectors are a boon to the economy.[27] The IT special economic zone and incubation
center exists at Rushikonda
Hills, of the city. There are many national and multi–national IT/ITes and banking
firms such as Mahindra
Satyam, Wipro, Kenexa, Infotech, IBM, Sutherland, and HSBC etc. Software exports
from Visakhapatnam have
increased by nearly 90% each year.[28]
The IT exports from the city for 2012 were Rs 1200 crore and 16,000 people were
employed. According to data
released by the state IT department for the financial year 2012–13, IT industry
registered an impressive in
IT/ITeS revenues, that generated ₹1445 crore (US$220 million), an increase of 20%,
compared to the previous
financial year. The same year saw an increase in employment, generated by the
IT/ITeS industry, with 16,988
jobs as compared to 16,000 in 2011–12 period.[29] The Information Technology
Investment Region (ITIR)
project, planned by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, may generate employment to
approximately, up to 15
lakh IT professionals and also the it can generate revenue for the economy, of up
to ₹3.11 crore
(US$470,000).[30]

Minerals and resources

Visakhapatnam and its surrounding areas are having mineral deposits of quartzite,
bauxite, graphite,
manganese, titanium, silica sand and 1,000 MT of bauxite reserves. The Iron ore and
other minerals, from the
neighbouring states are transported through rail and road to Visakhapatnam. These
minerals are exported
through sea to other countries.[31] Ilmenite is used for extraction of titanium and
Monazite for extraction of
thorium are found at Bheemunipatnam.[32] Ferroalloy plants, Aluminium refineries
(such as Anrak Aluminium
and Jindal Aluminium) are developing, due to the close proximity of manganese and
bauxite.[33]
HPCL Petrochemical Complex
Petro corridor
Visakhapatnam holds crude oil reserves with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation
Refinery, IOC and BPCL have
their bottling units in the city.[34] Visakhapatnam is a part of the Visakhapatnam–
Kakinada Petroleum, Chemical
and Petrochemical Investment Region (VK PCPIR), proposed between Visakhapatnam and
Kakinada.[35]
Power plants

Simhadri Super Thermal Power Plant is a coal-based power plant under the ownership
of NTPC Limited. It has
a capacity of 2000 MW with 4 units of 500 MW each.[36] Hindujas has begun
construction of a 1,040 MW coalbased thermal power plant in Visakhapatnam district
with two 520 MW units.[37]
Tourism

“The highest revenue earner for the AP Tourism Department is the Visakhapatnam
region,” The famous temple
of Sri Varaha Lakshmi Nrusimha Swamy at Simhachalam, Araku, Borra Caves, Buddhist
heritage sites dotting
the city and district, ‘Erramatti Dibbalu’, the beaches in the city and at
Bheemunipatnam, and Kailasagiri draw
tourists not only from various parts of Andhra Pradesh but also from other states
as also abroad.