HYDERABAD: Reliance Industries Limited on Sunday said it would invest Rs 50,000 crore in the energy, digital infrastructure and oil & gas sectors of Andhra Pradesh. Representatives from the firm signed MoUs for the projects on the second day of the CII Partnership Summit here. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu confirmed that a tech park housing a manufacturing unit at Tirupati and an oil and gas venture were on the cards.
Without giving away too many details, Naidu told media persons Reliance would invest about $6 billion -- roughly Rs 37,000 crore -- in the oil and gas project. The mobile and setup box manufacturing unit will be installed by Reliance Jio Infocom, a subsidiary of RIL.It is learnt that about 150 acres near Tirupati Airport will be allotted for the unit which will be built with an investment of Rs 15,000 crore.Under the same project, a world class Institution of Excellence will be established for young entrepreneurs to promote innovation and startups.
The Chief Minister said he had discussed business with Mukesh Ambani when they met in October 2017. Ambani, who recently visited Naidu in Vijayawada, was all praise for the TDP supremo’s style of governance and ease of doing business in AP. “Just three days after his visit to Amaravati, a high-level team from RIL approached me and finalised the projects. The group will invest over Rs 50,000 crore on projects which can generate employment for about 25,000 people,” Naidu said.
“The Tech Park at Tirupati will generate about 1 million cell phones per year initially and gradually increase its rate of production,” CM explained. Naidu expressed hope that the Institution of Excellence coming up at Amaravati would produce many entrepreneurs in the coming years. Pointing out the increase in manufacturing activities in the state, IT Minister Nara Lokesh said in 2014 the percentage of mobile phones manufactured in Andhra Pradesh when compared to the rest of the country was zero. In 2017, it grew to about 20 per cent and once the tech park is set up around 80 per cent of Jio mobile phones will be made in the state.