The Andhra Pradesh government has constituted the Visakhapatnam-Kakinada Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region Urban Development Authority (VK-PCPIR UDA) by scrapping the VK-PCPIR Special Development Authority established back in the year 2008. The Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department issued a gazette notification on Friday, October 8, removing seven revenue mandals and 82 villages from the Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA) and bringing them under the new VK-PCPIR UDA.

The new entity will now comprise 10 revenue mandals and 97 villages spread over a 640 sq km area, stretching from Kurada village in Visakhapatnam district to Vakalapudi in East Godavari district. The ruling YSR Congress Party activist Chokkakula Lakshmi has been appointed as the Chairperson of VK-PCPIR UDA while the VMRDA Commissioner will be the whole time Chief Executive Officer. The chairperson will have a two-year tenure, according to the notification. It will have ten other official members, including the Collectors of Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts.

In 2020, the Andhra Pradesh government sought to revive the Visakhapatnam-Kakinada PCPIR project first conceived way back in the year 2007, and lined up two big-ticket projects as anchor tenants at Kakinada with an aggregate investment of over 15.72 billion USD. The Andhra Pradesh Industry, Infrastructure and Investments Department had drawn up the VK-PCPIR Master Plan-2031 to develop industrial clusters, expressway and a major transport network, residential townships and knowledge hubs as part of the grandiose project.

The government's target is to attract investments to the tune of Rs 2 lakh crore to make the state the largest petrochemical hub in the country. The project was supposed to generate a staggering 12 lakh jobs (direct and indirect) over the years. But official sources told PTI that there has not been any progress in the project so far despite the ambitious plans.