Kakinada (Telugu: కాకినాడ) pronunciation (help·info) is a city and a municipal

corporation in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located 465 kilometres (289 mi) east of state capital, Hyderabad. It is also the headquarters of East Godavari district. Kakinada and Rajahmundry are two muncipal corporations in the district of East Godavari. It goes by the sobriquets "Fertilizer City" (owing to the large concentration of fertilizer plants), "Pensioner's Paradise" and "Second Madras" (as it is well planned and peaceful). The city has a population of about 550,000 urban and 896,329 including rural areas, covering a metropolitan area of approximately 190 km2, making it one of the important tier-II cities in India and the fourth largest city in Andhra Pradesh.[1]

This coastal city is witnessing rapid growth thanks to the setting up of a Special Economic Zone and proposed "Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR)". The city is the defacto capital of KG Basin and a hub to all the deep sea exploratory activity in the region thanks to its deep-water sea port.This region is purported to be the next Gulf of Mexico.

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.

Etymology

Several theories exist regarding the origin of the name Kakinada. One among them is that the place was called 'Kakinandiwada' 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 British used to call it Cocanada (for British pronunciation "Co Canada"). 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). Even now, the City's two railway stations are codenamed CCT (Kakinada Town Junction) and COA (Kakinada Port) by the Indian railways.

[edit] Geography

Kakinada is located at 16°56′N 82°13′E / 16.93°N 82.22°E .[2] The 82½ degrees east longitude, with respect to which IST (Indian Standard Time) is calculated, passes through Kakinada. It has an average elevation of 2 metres (6 ft) and many areas of the city are below sea level. The city has roughly a north-south orientation and is confined to a long narrow strip parallel to the sea coast. The average width of the city is around 6 km but its length is around 15 km. It can be divided into two broad regions. The old city area in the southwest called Jagannathapuram is separated from the rest of the city by Buckingham Canal. A couple of bridges connect these parts. This canal and its branches form Medaline Island, which abuts the city in the southwest.

The northern part is dotted by many villages. The eastern part is separated from coastline by an industrial belt, running north-south through the entire length of the city. The southern part is a marshy wetland and home to India's second largest mangrove forest and Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary. One of the branches of the mighty River Godavari, the Gouthami, flows into the Bay of Bengal at this point.

Warangal, Karimnagar, Pune,

Mumbai

Raipur, Patna, Lucknow, Kanpur,

New Delhi

Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneshwar,

Kolkatta

Rajahmundry, Hyderabad, Khammam,

Solapur, Goa

Bay of Bengal   Kakinada    

Vijayawada, Guntur, Nellore,

Tirupati, Chennai, Bangalore

Yanam, Amalapuram, Bhimavaram,

Narsapur, Gudivada, Pamarru,

Ongole

Bay of Bengal

[edit] Distances to other cities in Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad : 525 km Vijayawada : 220 km Visakhapatnam : 170 km Rajahmundry : 60 km

[edit] Climate

Kakinada has a tropical savanna climate. The weather is hot and humid for most of the year. The hottest part of the year is late May to early June with maximum temperatures around 38–42 °C (100–108 °F). The coolest part of the year is January, with minimum temperatures around 18–20 °C (64–68 °F). The city gets most of its seasonal rainfall from the south-west monsoon winds although a good deal of rains greet these parts during the northeast monsoon from mid-October to mid-December. Cyclones in the Bay of Bengal frequently hit the city. Prevailing winds in Kakinada are usually southwesterly for most part of the year except during October to January when they blow north-easterly. The city experiences an average annual rainfall between 110 and 115 centimeters.

[edit] Civic administration

Kakinada city streets at night

The city of Kakinada is run by the Kakinada Municipal Corporation, consisting of elected representatives and a commissioner. The city is divided into 50 wards and each ward elects a corporator through direct ballot. A mayor is elected for the entire city among the elected corporators by indirect ballot. The commissioner who is an IAS is appointed by the state government. Apart from this, the city is represented at the state level in the Andhra Pradesh State Legislative Assembly by two MLAs and at the federal level in the Lok Sabha by an MP.

[edit] Transportation

[edit] Air

The nearest airport is located at Rajahmundry, about 65 km from the city has services to Hyderabad 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.There was a proposal of captive airport and air cargo terminal at uppada for PCPIR.

Railway station, Kakinada

[edit] Rail

As a city located on the sea shore, Kakinada is a railway terminus, made by politicians because in the past it has a kotipalli railway line laid by British people but for the sake of

help to other countries after World War II our government removed that line. Now by the help of our great leader Late Mr. G.M.C Balayogi laid track up to kotipalli which should be extended to Narsapur(via Amalapuram).From Narsapur to Vijayawada(via Bhimavaram,Gudiwada) there is diesel railway line, to electrify that line Kakinada to Narspur line must be extended. There are benefits by extending this line mainly Konaseema market (coconut, banana) can be diversified to national level, the three districts (East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna) towns namely Ramachandrapuram, Drashakramam, Amalapuram, Narsapur, Palakol, Bhimavaram,Gudiwada are well connected to rail route, and will be developed more. Kakinada has four railway stations, namely Kakinada Town Junction (3 km), Kakinada Port (8 km), Kakinada Port New (6 km), and Sarpavaram (5 km). Presently through a branch line, Kakinada is connected to Samalkot Junction (12 km) which is on the Chennai-Howrah trunk line, where almost all express trains stop to connect Kakinada with the important places of the country.

City roads, Kakinada

[edit] Road

Good roads connect Kakinada with all the places within the state and rest of the country.NH-214 from Kathipudi to Pammaru is passing through Kakinada which connects it to NH-5 at Kathipudi, NH-9 at Pammaru.This NH-214 is extended to Ongole and named as NH-214(A).Good news in future NH-216 4-lane road from Kakinada to Suryapeta of 250 km this connects Kakinada to Hyderabad, now the journey time from Kakinada to Hyderabad is 10 hours by laying this road time reduces to 7 hours.

[edit] Sea

Kakinada's 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. Kakinada Seaports is the first private port to operate in the East Coast of India and it is currently one of India’s busiest ports. It is well connected to all major seaports in the country. Currently both deep water port and older anchorage port operate side by side. A shipyard named Sembmarine Kakinada is under construction, as a joint venture of Singapore-based Sembawang Shipyard Pvt. Ltd and Kakinada Seaports Ltd.[3]

A second port is being planned to be built exclusively to serve KSEZ (Kakinada Special Economic Zone).[4]

[edit] Economy

Farming in and around Kakinada

In the late 1940s (around the time of Indian independence) there was little industry in or around Kakinada, and the local economy consisted mainly of agriculture and fishing. Until the early 1980s (before the fertilizer companies started their operation here), the local economy was mainly based on the textile industry, auto parts, steel industry related ancillary units, agriculture and fishery industries. Today, Kakinada's economy has a diverse industrial base.

Kakinada's principal exports now include seafood (prawns, shrimp, fish) and related products, agricultural products like rice, corn,[5] oilmeals,[6] processed food products, chemicals, iron ore, bauxite powder,[7] and biofuel.[8]

Imports include chemicals, edible oils, and agricultural products[9] (e.g. wheat and sugar).

[edit] Industries

[edit] Fertilizer

Kakinada is often called the "Fertilizer City" of Andhra Pradesh. The city is home to two fertilizer producers: Nagarjuna Fertilizers is the biggest urea manufacturer in coastal Andhra. Another company, Godavari Fertilizers owned by Murugappa Group, produces Diammonium Hydrogen Phosphate (DAP).

[edit] Auto and iron/steel

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

[edit] Sugar

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.[10][11] Reliance is also planning to set up a sugar mill.

ONGC India, Kakinada office

[edit] Petroleum

Recently, several oil companies decided to make Kakinada a transit point for oil and gas shipments. Baker Hughes, Schlumberger are examples of the world class companies working on oil fields in the city. The economic value of these investments increased considerably after recent gas finds, considered to be the largest natural gas basin in India[12] were made by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Reliance in the Krishna Godavari basin. There is an LPG terminal and LPG bottling plant developed by Shri Shakti LPG Limited. ONGC is currently working on setting up an oil refinery in Kakinada.

Reliance Gas Transportation Infrastructure Ltd (RGTIL) is building a 1,440 km pipeline from Kakinada to Bharuch (Gujarat) to transport 120 million cubic meters per day (mcmd) of natural gas from Krishna-Godavari fields owned by Reliance Industries [13] across India to the west coast.

[edit] 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 has an edible oil refining capacity of more than 3000 MTS per day. Major refineries are Acalmar Oils & Fats Limited (now, taken over by Adani Wilmar Ltd.), Ruchi Infrastructure, Nikhil Refineries Ltd, etc.[14]

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 .[8] Andhra Pradesh has entered into a formal agreement with Reliance

Industries for Jatropha planting. The company has selected 200 acres (0.81 km2) of land at Kakinada to grow jatropha for high quality bio-diesel fuel.[15][16]

[edit] Electronics

Kakianada is home to Andhra Electronics Ltd. , an electronic components manufacturing company, which started operations in 1977.

[edit] Information Technology / ITeS

Kakinada is one of the 4 tier-II cities in Andhra Pradesh where Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) had set up a facility in 2007.[17]

Since the inception of the facility, several companies have started operations in this city and list is growing due to availability of highly educated workforce in the district.

About 15 companies are currently operating in Kakinada and four of them were incubated in the STPI facility.[18]

Infotech Enterprises, a Hyderabad based multinational software company has opened a facility in the STPI, Kakinada in February, 2007 with about 120 employees.[19]

Avineon Inc, an US based technology company that provides geospatial and engineering services, has commenced operations in April, 2008 in Kakinada with a new facility that can accommodate about 100 employees with plans to increase the staff up to 250 employees eventually.[20][21] [22]

Firstobject Technologies commenced operations in March, 2010 with an 18 seater facility on 24 by 7 basis There are also several small to mid-size software companies that operate in Kakinada which include Aaspire Technologies, Traceout Technologies, ForeTell Technologies Private Limited, Nyros Technologies, Meconzee InfoTech and Software Services,3One Technologies, Easty Solutions, etc.

[edit] Fishing and aquaculture

There are about 28 landing centers and also a large fishing wharf in Kakinada. The area surrounding Kakinada is home to several aqua farms.[23] 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

[edit] Rice mills

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

[edit] Power generation

There are several small and large power plants in Kakinada. Spectrum Power Generation Ltd. has a 208MW power plant at Kakinada.[24] GMR Energy has a 220 MW FPP (floating power plant) at an estimated cost of Rs 600 crore. GMR will supply power to the state power grid under a contract with the government.[25]

[edit] City

With the recent growth in the industrial sector, Kakinada has become a home to major hotels, markets, multiplex theaters and shopping malls.

Spencers Hypermarket Kakinada

[edit] Entertainment and attractions

The city has many parks, cosmopolitan clubs, beaches and natural scenic attractions. It is known for its multiplex and cinema theaters within the Godavari Districts.

Popular movie theaters in the city include: Padmapriya, Sripriya, Anand, Anjani, Geet, Sangeet, Sri Tirumala, Chanakya, Chandragupta, Devi Multiplex Screens 1, 2 and 3, Satyagouri, Swapna, Laxmi, Mayuri, Chandrika and Veer Kamal.

Hotel Aishwarya Grand Kakinada

[edit] Hotels

With several industrial units coming up in and around Kakinada under KSEZ and the establishment of PCPIR between Vizag and Kakinada, the hotel industry has grown by leaps and bounds. Now the city is home to several star hotels and resorts.3 star hotels like ISHWARYA GRAND,ROYAL PARK are operated in the city,new 3 star hotel SAROVAR PORTICO(hotel manasarovar) is opening soon,famous 3 star hotel chain green park is constructing near ADB road,JAYA RESIDENCY of dasapalla group,OAK TREE HOTEL are also operating in the city.

Apollo Hospitals Kakinada

[edit] Health care

Kakinada has many health care facilities supported by both the government and private institutions. These include the Christian Cancer Centre, Apollo Hospitals, the Government General Hospital (GGH), SRK Ent Care, Srinivasa Ent Hospital,Trust Hospital and Star hospitals

[edit] Education

JNTU University entranceMain article: List of educational institutions in Kakinada

Kakinada is a major educational hub fulfilling the growing educational demands of people in the state. The past decade has witnessed exponential growth and many residential colleges have been established to offer quality secondary education. There are also several professional colleges in and around the city offering courses in Engineering, Medical, Information Technology and Management at the graduate and postgraduate level.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University offers engineering courses and a school of business, while Rangaraya Medical College is one of the best medical colleges in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

Andhra University Post Graduate Centre (called A.U.M.S.N. PG Centre), established in November 1977, is another important college for higher learning in Kakinada. At present the center is located between 214 National Highway and Kakinada Port – Samalkot ADB Road on a 50.93-acre (206,100 m2) campus in Thimmapuram village. The campus is nine kilometers from Kakinada Town Railway Station.[26]

[edit] Tourism

Lord Shiva temple in Kakinada

Rajiv Gandhi beach park, Yanam, near Kakinada

Kakinada is a place of interest for tourists. Below is a list of places frequented by tourists in and around Kakinada.

Annavaram Satyanarayana Swamy Temple Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary Kukkuteshwara Swamy Temple at Pithapuram (12 km) Draksharama Shiva Temple (National Heritage site) Sri Bhimeswaraswamy Vari Temple (Sri Chalukya Kumararama Temple, one of

the Pancharama Kshetras and a National Heritage site) (10 km) Samalkota Kotipalli Kotilingeswara Temple, on the banks of the river Godavari Konaseema scenic locations of Godavari delta islands Kakinada Beach (Vakalpudi Beach) and Rajiv Gandhi Beach on the banks of the

Godavari, Yanam Several temples with gardens and ponds

[edit] 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.

The Godavari Telugu accent places emphasis on respecting elders and strangers. To achieve this, people of this region normally use the grammatical forms of Telugu that convey respect which is not found in Telugu usage in other parts of the Andhra Pradesh. The educated and the young understand English and use it as a mode of communication with people outside the state. Hindi is spoken by a sizable percentage of population.[citation

needed]

Kakinada is a major educational center with several schools, colleges and universities. Many among 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 have ridden the boom by expanding their businesses and investments. The local population is supplemented by immigrants who have left their villages to seek work and opportunity in this bustling city.

People of Kakinada enjoy spending the hot summers in the shallow waters of Bay of Bengal. As tides are not intense and as the water is shallow people enjoy playing in the waters of Bay of Bengal. Devi Multiplex, Janmabhoomi Park and Vivekananda Park are other places people here love to hang out.

[edit] Food

Restaurants in Kakinada

East Godavari is famous for traditional Andhra cuisine and Kakinada is no different: pickles (aavakaaya) made from mangoes, vegetables (e.g. caulifower aavakaaya), chicken, shrimp, mutton or even fish. Some people here swear by the pungent aroma and the lingering taste of dried fish (Endu Chepa) and shrimp (Endu Royya).

This city is also famous for its unique Kakinada Kaaja, a sweet made from maida and dipped in sugar syrup[27] This sweet 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.

Locals frequent the innumerable carts strategically located on populous street corners to purchase bhajis and a delicious 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 crêpes from moong daal (pesara pappu), green chillies, ginger and cumin. These are sold in restaurants as well as street stalls. Pootarekulu is a sweet in coastal Andhra, made of thin sugar plates.

[edit] Sports

Cricket is the most popular game followed by badminton and athletics. The city is home to a number of local cricket teams participating in various district and zonal events.

Kakinada has a cricket stadium used for Ranji Trophy matches. Local games like goleelu (marbles), gootibilla, etc., are also played with great interest.