Overview

• At the East Coast Maritime Logistics Summit in Visakhapatnam, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu restated a plan to position Andhra Pradesh as the East Coast’s cargo gateway.
• He announced a logistics university and a civil aviation university and invited sector leaders to form a 20-member advisory body to guide policy and execution.
• The state highlighted six operating ports with four more in development, a goal of ports or fishing harbours roughly every 50 km, and plans for shipbuilding, repair, recycling and defence maintenance at sites including Dugarajapatnam and Machilipatnam.
• Naidu targeted lower logistics costs by pushing digital cargo-tracking platforms, stronger rail, road and air links, and revival of inland waterways such as the Buckingham Canal.
• Industry participants signalled support, with Adani Ports committing to invest and Essar planning reinvestment, and proposals surfaced to allocate 200–300 acres for domestic manufacture of terminal equipment like quay and gantry cranes.