Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday virtually launched India’s first Drone City at the CII Partnership Summit in Visakhapatnam.
The Drone City which is part of the upcoming Space City and Drone Hub—will come up in Orvakal Industrial Area, Kurnool. Spread across 300 acres within a larger 2,621-acre ecosystem near Kurnool Airport it would have good road, rail, and air connectivity. Earlier in the day Naidu predicted drone taxis would become a reality in two years with AP showing the day.
Praising Naidu, the Union minister said, “This man is always in a hurry… while such big projects usually take time, Chandrababu Naidu pushed ahead and conceptualized Drone City.”
He highlighted that advanced drone capabilities are becoming central to India’s defence, especially after Operation Sindoor, and said AP’s Drone City will accelerate India’s push toward Atmanirbhar Bharat in high-end drone manufacturing.
Earlier in the day the chief minister said that the state was aiming to attract investments worth US$500 billion in the next three years and to provide jobs to 50 lakh youths. He claimed that in the past 18 months, since his government came to power the state had attracted investments worth US$20 billion and jobs for 20 lakh youths.
Delivering the keynote address at the inaugural session of the 30 th CII Partnership Summit 2025 in the presence of Vice President CP Radhakrishnan and Union Commerce and Industry minister Naidu pitched Visakhapatnam in a big way, saying it was going to emerge as the destination for IT and investments.
He announced, “I am announcing that an escrow account will be set up in AP for the incentives given to industries. I am also clarifying that we will provide a sovereign guarantee.”
AP minister Nara Lokesh gave the gathering three reasons for choosing the state.
“We have a leadership with a clear track record, it is none other than our chief minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu garu… The second reason you should consider Andhra Pradesh is our speed. We live in a fast-changing world where markets, regulations and technology keep evolving… We need to grant land permits, approvals and incentives at the speed that the project can take off and serve the markets and to all the industrialists who are here in the audience, we will beat your company’s speed here in Andhra Pradesh.”
Lokesh also spoke about the double engine government in the state. “We are willing to work with the Government of India to create reforms, to bring about reforms, changes in regulations that will ensure that your business not only succeeds but thrives in our great country called India,” he added.
Karan Adani of Adani group announced they will invest Rs 1 lakh crore in AP over the next decade.
Reliance announced that it will build a fully modular, future-ready 1 GW AI data centre designed to host the world’s most advanced GPUs, TPUs and AI processors. This facility will operate as a twin to the company’s gigawatt-scale AI data centre in Jamnagar, creating one of Asia’s most powerful AI infrastructure networks. AP also signed a MoU with the Lulu Group.