The Andhra Pradesh Government will take all steps to develop Visakhapatnam not only as an industrial town, but a hot tourist destination as well, according to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
He was speaking atop Kailasagiri hill here on Thursday evening after inaugurating Telugu heritage museum established jointly by the World Telugu Federation in association with the Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA).
He said that after the damage caused by the Hudhud cyclone last year the city had recovered well and the greenery was being restored on the Kailasagiri and the other hills surrounding the city. The tourism potential of the city and the district should be fully exploited, he added.
The Telugu heritage museum has been set up on five acres of land provided by the VUDA, estimated at more than Rs 48 crore. The project was originally conceived in 2005, at which time the cost was estimated at Rs 5 crore. It has since been revised to Rs 12.75 crore, with the VUDA contributing Rs 5 crore and the WTF Rs 7.75 crore. So far the VUDA has spent Rs 4.43 crore on the project and the WTF Rs 6.25 crore including an advance of Rs 2 crore given by the VUDA.