The Ramayapatnam port was supposed to be a major project for the state of Andhra Pradesh, but due to a mistake on part of the Andhra Pradesh government, this is now not the case. During the time of the separation of the state of Andhra Pradesh into AP and Telangana, in the Partition Act, it was clearly mentioned that the AP government and state were to get a major port.
In February last year, the AP government wrote a letter to the Center, asking the Ramayapatnam port to be made into a non-major port, due to reasons that have not been revealed to anyone. Taking this as their opportunity, the Central government made the port into a non-major project.
It has also been made clear in the parliament that no funds would be allocated to the Ramayapatnam as it is a non-major project, and the Center will not fund any non-major projects. The union minister said that if this were to be done, then the partition act would have to be changed.
While no one knows why the Ramayapatnam port has been downgraded to a non-major port by the AP government, it is being speculated that the AP government did this to handover the project to the Aurobindo group.
After his meeting with PM Narendra Modi, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy said that the AP government will be constructing and funding the Ramayapatnam port, and the project would be handed over to a private company. Where the centre should have prevailed, a private company like Aurobindo will be taking charge now.