Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Vice Admiral Rajesh Pendharkar, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Naval Command, during the special operational demo organised in Visakhapatnam on January 4, 2025.
| Photo Credit: K.R. DEEPAK

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on January 4, 2025 (Saturday) stressed the need to transform Visakhapatnam into a maritime gateway of Andhra Pradesh, adding that the city had all the trappings of achieving the status.

Mr. Naidu was speaking after witnessing the special operational demo organised at RK Beach in Visakhapatnam. His wife Bhuvaneswari and grandson Devansh, Chief Justice of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh Dhiraj Singh Thakur and ENC Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Vice Admiral Rajesh Pendharkar were present.

The Chief Minister also sought the support of the Indian Navy, especially Visakhapatnam-based Eastern Naval Command (ENC), in achieving some of the goals set by the government such as making the State a drone technology hub.

Lamenting that the government had missed an opportunity to utilise INS Viraat for tourism purposes in the past, he said it was ready to seize any such opportunity in the future. “The government is committed to transforming Visakhapatnam into a tourism capital, besides making it a financial capital of the State,” he added.

Mr. Naidu further said that his government would promote the Defence sector and its projects. It was the TDP government that had brought the INS Kursura Submarine Museum and the TU 142 Aircraft Museum to the city, he recalled.

Speaking about the importance of the ENC, Mr. Naidu said, “It was formed in 1968. Though there were prominent coastal cities such as Kolkata and Chennai on the eastern coast, Visakhapatnam got the opportunity of being the base of the Eastern Naval Command. It is a matter of pride for the State and the people of the city.”

He recalled that the ENC had done a commendable job during the Indo-Pak war in 1971. The humanitarian contributions of the ENC in extending the rescue and relief operations during Cyclone Hudhud in October 2014 in Visakhapatnam were laudable, he said.

Mr. Naidu took the opportunity of reiterating his plans of providing Metro Rail in Visakhapatnam. He further said that efforts were underway to protect RINL-Visakhapatnam Steel Plant from being privatised.