Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday inaugurated two greenfield industrial parks in Kopparthy and Orvakal, Andhra Pradesh, marking a key step in India’s manufacturing expansion. The projects, backed by an investment of Rs 4,920 crore, are part of a broader push to establish the state as a major industrial hub.
Speaking at the event, the PM underscored India’s ambition to become a “Viksit Bharat” (Developed India) by 2047, driven by the growing manufacturing prowess.
“Today, the world recognizes India as the new manufacturing centre of the 21st century,” he said, pointing to Andhra Pradesh’s rising role in the country’s self-reliance and industrial growth agenda. The new parks are part of 12 greenfield industrial cities approved last year under the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme (NICDP).
Developed jointly by the National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust (NICDIT) and Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Ltd (APIIC), these multi-sector hubs aim to attract more than Rs 21,000 crore in additional investment and create roughly 1,00,000 direct jobs in the region.
Orvakal Industrial Area (OIA) that will be spread over 2,621 acres in Kurnool district is envisioned as a self-sustained industrial township integrating industrial, residential, commercial, and social infrastructure. With an investment potential of Rs 12,000 crore, it will focus on auto components, renewable energy, aerospace and defence, electrical and electronics, textiles and apparels, gems and jewellery, and pharmaceuticals.
Kopparthy Industrial Area is coming up over an area of 2,595 acres in Kadapa district. It is located under the Vishakhapatnam–Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC) and is being developed with a project cost of Rs 2,136 crore. Its strategic connectivity to NH-40, NH-716, Kadapa Airport, and access to Krishnapatnam and Chennai ports positions it as a major maritime cargo gateway.
The NICDP is a flagship initiative of the Government of India aimed at developing greenfield, smart industrial cities with world-class infrastructure to boost the share of manufacturing in the country’s GDP. National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited is the organization implementing NICDP.
These new 12 parks along with the four industrial smart cities that are functional and four that are under construction will take the number of total smart industrial cities in the country to 20. The four functional industrial cities are located in Dholera in Gujarat, Shendra Bidkin in Maharashtra, Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh and Vikram Udyogpuri in Madhya Pradesh.
Apart from two in Andhra Pradesh, these cities are coming up in Khurpia in Uttrakhand, Rajpura in Punjab, Agra and Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, Gaya in Bihar, Dighi Port Industrial Area in Maharashtra, Jodhpur Pali Marwar in Rajasthan, Zaheerabad in Telangana, Palakkad in Kerala. These are coming up on Amritsar-Kolkata, Delhi Mumbai, Vizag-Chennai, Hyderabad-Bengaluru, Hyderabad-Nagpur and Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridors.