Kakinada

?KAKINADA (formerly known as COCANADA) Andhra Pradesh • India
KAKINADA (formerly known as COCANADA)
Coordinates:
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Area • Metro • Elevation	42.3 km² (16 sq mi) (5) • 90.27 km² (35 sq mi) • 2 m (7 ft)
Climate Temperature • Summer • Winter	Mildly Tropical (Köppen) 26 °C (79 °F) • 37.3 °C (99 °F) • 24 °C (75 °F)
Region	Coastal Andhra
District(s)	East Godavari
Subdistrict	Kakinada (Urban)
Population • Density • Metro • Literacy rate	404,920 (5) (2001[update]) • 12,223 /km² (31,657 /sq mi) • 503,340 (40) (2001) • 70
Language(s)	Telugu
Mayor	K.Saroja
Member of Parliament	M.M.Pallam Raju
Member of Legistlative Assembly	M.Gopala Krishna, A.Bullabbay.Reddy
Parliamentary constituency	Kakinada
Assembly constituency	Kakinada City,Kakinada Rural
Codes • Pincode • Telephone • Vehicle	• 533 0XX • +91 884 • AP5,AP6

Kakinada (Telugu: కాకినాడ)pronunciation is a city and a municipal corporation in East Godavari district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is also the headquarters of East Godavari district.^[1]

The city has a population of about 404,920 (agglomeration 503,340) as per 2001 census. This coastal city is witnessing rapid growth thanks to the recently granted Special Economic Zone status. It is one of the largest tier-2 cities of India and the fourth largest city in A.P. The city also has a deep-water port which is expanding rapidly.

The presence of a small island called Hope Island about 5 km from Kakinada coast, makes Kakinada a natural Harbor. Prior to construction of the deep water port, the old anchorage port operated for several decades as the largest minor port in India. At present, both the deep water port and older anchorage port operate side by side.

Origin of the name

• Kakinada is relatively a younger city compared to other major cities in Andhra pradesh. The city itself grew into prominence in the last 300 years after the European settlers arrived here and the British made it an administrative headquarters for the local area they ruled.

• Several theories exist regarding the origin of the name Kakinada. The most popular and probably correct theory is that the place where the city was built was called 'Kaki nandiwada' during the reign of Nandi kings who ruled prior to the arrival of the Europeans. The name was truncated to Kakinada over the passage of time.

• The first European settlers in this port city were the Dutch, followed by the British and then the missionaries of the Canadian Baptist Mission in 1874^[2]

• After Independence, it was renaturalized to Kakinada, although a few organisations established during the British colonial rule retain the old name (e.g., Cocanada Chamber of Commerce).

• Kakinada is known as Second Madras. The original city that includes the central business district is a well planned city that is divided in several grids with main roads that are straight and are parallel which run across the city.

• Kakinada is famous for the sweet named "Kakinada kaja "

• Kakinada is the first place in Asia where the Bio Diesel plant is constructed.

A file picture of the Port Town of Kakinada (formerly known as cocanada)

Geography

Kakinada is located at .^[3] It has an average elevation of 2 metres (6 feet).

The 82 1/2 degrees east longitude, with respect to which IST (Indian Standard Time) is calculated, passes through Kakinada.

Distances to other cities

• Bangalore 856 km
• Chennai 684 km
• Guntur 248 km
• Kolkatta (Howrah) 1028 km
• Hyderabad 553 km
• Mumbai 1234 km
• New Delhi 1848 km
• Rajahmundry 60 km
• Vijayawada 210 km
• Visakhapatnam 155 km

Demographics

As of 2001^[update] India census,^[4] Kakinada had a population of 504,920. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. Kakinada has an average literacy rate of about 70%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 75%, and female literacy is 65%. In Kakinada, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Civic administration

The city of Kakinada is run by the Kakinada Municipal Corporation, run by elected representatives and a commissioner. The city is divided into 56 wards and each ward elects a corporator. A mayor is elected for the entire city. The commissioner who is a (IAS) officer is appointed by the state government. It has a dedicated Collector's office for Administration of State and Central Government Programmes.

Transport

• Air

The nearest airport is located at Rajahmundry, about 65-km from the city has services to Hyderabad, Chennai and Visakhapatnam. Kingfisher Airlines is the airlines operating here. The nearest International airport is at Visakhapatnam at a distance of 145-km and has the services of all major airline operators to all big cities in the country.

• Rail

Kakinada has three railway stations namely Kakinada Junction(3km), Kakinada Port(8km) and Samalkot Junction(12km). Only Samalkota is on the Chennai-Visakhapatnam-Howrah line, where almost all express trains stop to connect Kakinada with the important places of the country.

• Road

Good roads connect Kakinada with all the places within the state and also with major cities like Chennai and Bangalore. Transport by road from Kakinada to all the places of interest is in the form of Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) buses.There are non-stop services to Visakhapatnam and Rajahmundry 365 days-a-year. City buses, Taxis, Autorickshaws are the major means of transport within the city. Private bus operators provide transport services to various parts of the country. National Highway-214 runs through the heart of the city.

• Sea

Kakinada deep water port is the second largest in the state after Visakhapatnam port. It is operated by Kakinada Seaports Limited. Before the deep water port was built, the anchorage port was the largest of the forty minor-ports operating in India. It is well connected to all major seaports in the country. Currently both deep water port and older anchorage port operate side by side.

JSW Infrastructure and Logistics, an infrastructure and logistics company owned by the JSW group is building ship repair and shipyard facilities near kakinada port with an investment of about US$250 million.^[5]

Also, a second port is being planned to be built exclusively to serve KSEZ (Kakinada Special Economic Zone).^[6]

Industry

In the late 1940s (around the time of Indian Independence) there was little industry in and around Kakinada and the local economy consisted mainly of agricultural and fishing. Six decades later, Kakinada's economy has a diverse Industrial base.

• Fertilizer Industry

Kakinada is often called the "Fertilizer City" of Andhra Pradesh. The city is home to two Fertilizer companies. Nagarjuna Fertilizers is the biggest Urea manufacturer in coastal Andhra. Another company, Godavari Fertilizers NOw it named by coromandel FeRTILIZERS, produces DAP (Di-Ammonium Phosphate).

• Auto and Iron/Steel ancillary industries

There are several auto and iron/steel ancillary industries in Kakinada which include Sri Ramadas Motor Transport Limited , Sri Bhavani Castings Ltd etc.

• Sugar Industry

The Murugappa Group-owned EID Parry (India) Ltd and Cargill International SA have announced their plans to enter into a joint venture to set up a port-based stand-alone sugar refinery in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh. EID Parry vice-chairman A Vellayan said the investment was estimated at Rs 325 crore. The plant was expected to be commissioned by December 2008, with an initial refining capacity of 6 lakh tonnes and ultimately 1 million tonnes.^[7][8] Reliance is also planning to set up a sugar mill.

• Petroleum Products

There is an LPG Bottling plant set up by Shri Shakti LPG Limited Kakinada has been in the news recently after several oil companies decided to use it as a transit point for oil and gas shipments. The economic value of these investments has increased considerably after the recent gas finds by ONGC [Oil and Natural Gas Corporation], Reliance in the KG basin. ONGC is currently working on setting up a refinery in Kakinada.

Reliance Gas Transportation Infrastructure Ltd (RGTIL), is implementing a 1,440-km pipeline project from [Kakinada] to Baruch (Gujarat) to transport gas from KG Basin fields owned by Reliance ^[9][10]

• Edible Oil Refineries and Biofuel Plants

In 2002 several edible oil refineries established themselves in Kakinada and the refining capacity has touched 3000 tons per day. Kakinada port is facilitating the imports of crude palm oil, crude soyabean oil. Kakinada is having an edible oil per day refining capacity of more than 3000 MTS Major refineries are Acalmar Oils & fats limited, Ruchi Infrastructure, Nikhil refineries ltd, etc.^[11]

The Vakalapudi Industrial park in Kakinada has attracted investments worth over US$ 10 million from bio-diesel companies such as Reliance Industries, Naturol Bioenergy and Universal Bio Fuel. ^[12] Andhra Pradesh has entered into a formal agreement with Reliance Industries for Jatropha planting. The company has selected 200 acres of land at Kakinada to grow jatropha for high quality bio-diesel fuel.^[13][14]

• Electronics Industry

Kakianada is home to the an electronic components manufacturing company that started operations since 1977 called Andhra Electronics Ltd. ,

• IT / ITeS Industry

Kakinada is one of the 4 tier-II cities in Andhra Pradesh where Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) had setup a facility in 2007.^[15] About 12 companies are currently operating in Kakinada and four of them were incubated in the STPI facility.^[16]

Currently, Infotech Enterprises, a Hyderabad based multinational software company has opened a facility in the STPI, Kakinada in February, 2007 with about 120 employees.^[17]

Apart from Infotech Enterprises, there are several small to mid-size software companies that operate in Kakinada which include Aaspire Technologies, Traceout Technologies, ForeTell Technologies Private Limited, Nyros Technologies, 3One Technologies , Easty Solutions etc

Avineon Inc, an US based technology company that provides geospatial and engineering services, has announced in April, 2008 that it would set up a new facility at Kakinada that can accommodate about 100 employees.^[18][19]

• Fishing and Aqua culture Industry

There are about 28 landing centers and also a large fishing wharf in Kakinada. The area surrounding Kakinada is home to several aqua farms.^[20] There are also several units that process and export fish, shrimp and other marine products. Recognizing the importance of fishing and aquaculture industry to the local economy, Andhra Pradesh state government established a research and training center on fisheries in 1958 called APSIFT (Andhra Pradesh State Institute of Fisheries Technology) in Kakinada in cooperation with FAO. The CIFE (Central Institute of Fisheries education), a deemed university established by Indian government in 1961 has one of its three campuses in India in Kakinada. The CIFE is the first fisheries university in India and provides post-graduate education and training, to in-service fisheries personnel not only from India but also many African and Asian countries

• Rice Mills

Several Rice mills exist in and around Kakinada and some of the rice is exported to other countries

• Power Generation Industry

Spectrum Power Generation Ltd. has a 208MW Power plant at kakinada.^[21] Very soon, Kakinada poised to have a floating power plant (FPP) .Industry major GMR Energy will be taking over the prestigious 220 MW FPP at an estimated cost of Rs 600 crore. GMR will supply power to the State power grid as per the terms and conditions of the Government.^[22]

Economy

Until early 1980s (before the fertilizer companies started their operation here), local economy was mainly based on autoparts, steel industry related ancillary units, agriculture and fishery industries.

Exports consist of sea food(prawns,shrimp,fish) and related products, agricultural products like rice, corn^[23],oilmeals^[24] etc, processed food products, chemicals, iron ore, bauxite powder ^[25], biofuel^[12] etc

Imports consist of chemicals, edible oils, agricultural products ^[26](wheat, sugar etc)

Education

Kakinada is a major hub fulfilling the growing educational demand of people within the district. The past decade has witnessed exponential growth and many residential colleges have established themselves to offer quality secondary education. There are also several professional colleges in and around the city offering courses in Engineering, Medical, IT and Management at the graduate and post graduate level.

The city is home to the Government College of Engineering, (currently called Kakinada campus of Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU)), is the second oldest engineering college in Andhra Pradesh (Established on 1946) and Rangaraya Medical College, one of the oldest of its kind.

A comprehensive list of educational institutions in Kakinada is available at^[27]

People

People from Kakinada can easily be identified by their characteristic Godavari Telugu accent. They have gained a reputation for being hospitable, polite and cultured in their interaction with people. The city of kakinada is a major educational center with several schools, colleges and Universities. A large part of the younger generation are migrating to the cities and out of the country in search of opportunities that meet their scale of ambition. However, there are significant parts of the society that ride the boom by expanding their businesses and investments. The local population is supplemented by immigrants who leave their villages to seek work and opportunity in this bustling city.

Food

East Godavari is famous for traditional Andhra cuisine and Kakinada is no different - mouth watering pickles (Aavakaaya) made from mango, vegetables (e.g. Caulifower Aavakaaya), chicken, shrimp, mutton and even fish. Interestingly, a few people here swear by the pungent taste of dried fish (Endu Chepa) and shrimp (Endu Royya).

One of the well known restaurants include that serve local style Andhra Cuisine is Sri Krishna Vilas popularly known as Subbiah Hotel.

This city is also famous for its unique Kakinada Kaaja which later was very popular not only in Andhra but also in far away places like Bihar and U.P.^[28]. Kotiah Sweets (founded in the year 1900) is locally the most famous and possibly the earliest known maker of Kakinada Kaaja, a sweet made from maida and dipped in sugar syrup.

The locals frequent the innumerable carts strategically located at populous street corners to get their share of bhajis and a delightfully tasty mixture of onions, toasted rice, and sev (Pidatha Kindha Pappu).

Kakinada is also one of the few regions in the entire Andhra Pradesh where Chekkarakeli aratipandu (banana) and Kothapalli kobbari maamidipandu (mango) are available.Kakinada is also famous for its delicious pesarattu, a breakfast or brunch item formed into crepes from moong daal (pesara pappu), green chillies, ginger and cumin. These are sold in restaurants as well as street stalls.

Sports

Cricket is the most popular game followed by football and Athletics. The city is home to a number of local cricket teams participating in various district and zonal events. Gully cricket - a form of cricket played in empty streets or maidans is a popular pastime for local school/college going kids in the evenings. Kakinada has a cricket stadium used for Ranji Trophy matches. The Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP) has a sports and recreation centre which is the key for the district's sports activities.

References

• Kakinada Information Portal - It also provides information of surrounding places

External links

• Kakinada Information Portal - It also provides information of surrounding places
• About Kakinada
• Kakinada Port