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Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu laid the foundation stone for a cluster of significant aerospace and defence projects in Andhra Pradesh on Friday. These initiatives are led by infrastructure related to India’s ambitious fifth-generation fighter program, the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).
The projects, spread across Puttaparthi, Anakapalli, Madakasira and Kurnool, are expected to collectively transform Andhra Pradesh into a major defence manufacturing hub while generating employment for nearly 7,500 people.
At the centre of the initiative is the Core Integration and Flight Testing Centre for the AMCA programme in Puttaparthi, Sri Sathya Sai district. The facility, being established by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), a DRDO affiliate, is a critical component of India’s indigenous stealth fighter programme.
The overall AMCA programme has an estimated outlay of around Rs 15,000 crore, while the Puttaparthi testing and integration centre alone is being built at a cost of nearly Rs 2,000 crore.
Calling the projects “truly historic”, Rajnath Singh said India could no longer afford long-term dependence on foreign military platforms in an increasingly volatile global environment.
“Our objective is crystal clear. We are advancing with the resolute goal of achieving self-reliance in the defence sector and ensuring that the three Services are future-ready,” Singh said at the ceremony.
In a strong pitch for indigenous capability, the Defence Minister said Puttaparthi would soon join a select group of global locations associated with the development of fifth-generation combat aircraft.
“Puttaparthi is set to join the exclusive league of global destinations from which a fifth-generation aircraft will take to the skies,” he said. “It will become the birthplace of an aircraft capable of annihilating the enemy in the blink of an eye.”
Naval Systems Manufacturing Facility
Apart from the AMCA-linked facility, Singh and Naidu also laid the foundation stone for Bharat Dynamics Limited’s Naval Systems Manufacturing Facility at T Sirasapalli village in Anakapalli district. The Rs 480-crore project will manufacture autonomous underwater vehicles, underwater countermeasure systems and next-generation torpedoes for the Indian Navy.
Officials said the facility would reduce dependence on imported naval subsystems and strengthen India’s underwater warfare capabilities.
Ammunition and Electric Fuse Plant
Ground-breaking ceremonies were also held for a Rs 1,500-crore Defence Energetics Facility being set up by Agneyastra Energetics Limited, a subsidiary of Bharat Forge, and a Rs 1,200-crore Ammunition and Electric Fuse Plant by HFCL Limited at Madakasira.
Singh described electric fuses as one of the most critical components in ammunition systems and said the plant would mark “a new chapter” in India’s effort to achieve self-reliance in ammunition manufacturing.
Drone City in Kurnool
A consortium of eight drone companies also announced plans to establish a “Drone City” in Kurnool, envisioned as a manufacturing and innovation cluster for unmanned systems. Singh said drone technology had emerged as a “true game changer” in modern warfare and predicted the region would eventually become the country’s “Drone Hub”.
Drawing a comparison with Surat’s diamond industry and Bengaluru’s technology ecosystem, he said Andhra Pradesh was positioning itself as a future centre for defence innovation and aerospace manufacturing.
Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said Andhra Pradesh was committed to building a robust defence industrial base by leveraging its land availability, industrial corridors and skilled workforce. Several companies exchanged MoUs with the state government during the event for upcoming defence manufacturing investments.
Rs 1.75 lakh crore Defence Production
The leaders also visited a defence exhibition displaying missiles, hand grenades, modern infantry weapons and a fighter aircraft prototype.
Highlighting the broader growth in the sector, Rajnath Singh said India’s defence production had risen from Rs 46,000 crore in 2014 to nearly Rs 1.54 lakh crore now, and projected that it would touch Rs 1.75 lakh crore within the next one or two months.
He added that defence exports, which stood at around Rs 600 crore a decade ago, had now crossed approximately Rs 40,000 crore.
The Defence Minister also used the occasion to caution against misinformation and psychological warfare, warning that adversaries may increasingly attempt to destabilise societies through rumours and false narratives rather than direct military confrontation.
“In the present era, misinformation can prove as dangerous as conventional attacks,” Singh said, urging citizens to remain vigilant.
Team BharatShakti
