opened to traffic. A milestone was the establishment of the Scindia Steam Navigation Company (later known as Hindustan Shipyard Limited) in 1940. With the construction of the Kottavalasa-Kirandul (K.K.) line connecting the iron-ore mines in Bailadila, Madhya Pradesh (present-day Chattisgarh), its importance grew. During the 1950s and 1960s the government and the private sector set up large-scale industries such as Bharat Heavy Plates and Vessels, Hindustan Zinc, Dredging Corporation of India, the Caltex oil refinery (later acquired by the government as Hindustan Petroleum), Coromandel International and Andhra Polymers (now LG Polymers). The 1980s saw development of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant and other industries. Economic liberalisation during the 1990s brought modest growth to the city but not as much as it did to Hyderabad. However, industries such as Rain Calcining and the Simhadri Thermal Power plant of NTPC Limited were established, Hindustan Petroleum expanded and the Visakhapatnam Export Processing Zone was established. Visakhapatnam was named as one of the ten fastest-growing cities of the world in a recent study by United Nations. In its extensive survey on next generation of top ten business destinations across the country, Cushman & Wakefield has discovered Vizag as one of the ideal business destinations
Due to the presence of the Eastern Naval Command, Vizag Steel Plant and Hindustan Petroleum, the city is home to people from around the country and is cosmopolitan. Visakhapatnam's main commercial and shopping centres are in the Dwarakanagar, R.T.C. complex and Jagadamba Junction areas. It has two multiplexes: Varun Beach and CMR Central. Since 2000, the Dwarakanagar-R.T.C. complex area has become a commercial hub with shopping centres in a 2–3 kilometre radius. The city is home to five-star hotels, such as Novotel, Taj group, ITC-WelcomGroup, Four Points by Sheraton and Park Hotels.
