A step towards modernisation
In the early 1960s, the plan for a steel plant brought hope to the region, promising the kind of development that would boost employment and encourage new investment.
It also meant a new shift towards industrialisation and modernisation. The first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy - in office from 1956 until 1960, and serving a second term from 1962 to 1964 - had focused on rural development and agriculture. Outside Hyderabad, the majority of the population continued to work in the fields, or made a living from fishing. The drive for change and development that characterised the first decades of Indian independence in Delhi, Mumbai, and other major cities had failed to reach much of the south of India - including Andhra Pradesh.
People in the region were enthusiastic about the plan for Vizag Steel. It meant great opportunities, as the project promised to create thousands of jobs.
Yet both the state government and national government lacked the political will to get things moving. Both were led by the same party: from its creation in 1956 until 1983, every Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh came from the Indian Congress Party; so did almost every Prime Minister. But the Congress leadership had other issues to deal with, and the national government delayed the project at every turn, making promises and then failing to follow through. For them, Andhra Pradesh was never a priority.