Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Friday (October 2, 2026) unveiled the ₹1-lakh-crore ‘Global Horticulture Hub – Rayalaseema Rising’ project, promising irrigation, technology, processing and export support to the region’s farmers. “It’s a journey from a drought-prone region known for migration and water scarcity to a potential global fruit bowl,” he said.
Mr. Naidu and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman laid the foundation stones for the hub and for the Indian School of Agriculture (ISA), which Reliance Industries will help set up and run, at a public gathering in Madanapalle. The Chief Minister thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ms. Sitharaman for the Centre’s support. “October 2, 2026, will go down in the history of Rayalaseema. The step we are taking today will change the destiny of farmers in the region,” he said.
Ms. Sitharaman, who spoke in Telugu, said that the two initiatives were a step towards turning Rayalaseema into “Ratnala Seema”, a land of gems and prosperity.
About ₹40,000 crore of the project cost would come from government support and ₹60,000 crore from private investment, Mr. Naidu said. The project would cover 5,860 villages in 201 clusters across 10 districts, including the erstwhile Prakasam district, and bring an additional six lakh acres under horticulture. It will be implemented in three phases.
The project aims to raise horticultural production from 222 lakh tonnes to 435 lakh tonnes, directly benefiting 9.6 lakh farmers, according to an official release. “Now, the sector is contributing ₹1.5 lakh crore in gross value added. The new hub will add another ₹1 lakh crore. Rayalaseema is set to become the fruit bowl of the world,” Mr. Naidu said.
Crops ranging from apples, strawberries and bananas to avocado, kiwi and dates would be promoted, he said, and food processing, agri-tech, logistics and exports would form a “seed-to-shipment” ecosystem to give farmers stable incomes and steady production and prices.
Irrigation the key
“Irrigation is the key to changing Rayalaseema’s fortunes. Anantapur, the country’s second-lowest-rainfall district, once faced desert-like conditions, migration, fodder shortages and lack of employment. I kept pursuing irrigation and water conservation throughout my political career, introducing drip irrigation three decades ago. Now, we are committed to following a micro-irrigation policy and groundwater conservation measures,” Mr. Naidu said.
Likening irrigation projects to “modern temples”, he said 36 projects worth ₹35,000 crore, including Handri-Neeva Phase-II, Galeru-Nagari Sujala Sravanthi, Veligonda Phase-II, the expansion of the Madakasira Branch Canal, Bhairavanithippa, Mallemadugu and Balaji Sagar, would be completed in three years.
He said ₹3,500 crore had been spent on completing the Handri-Neeva canal and taking water to Kuppam. Over a decade, 500 TMC of water had been brought from Pattiseema to the Krishna delta, allowing the Krishna water saved to be diverted to Rayalaseema, he said. “The government is now exploring a Godavari-to-Cauvery link to address water shortages in southern States,” he said.
Reflecting on his five-decade political career, Mr. Naidu said he had been called a “visionary”, a “CEO” and the “Hi-Tech CM”, and was now being described as a “Water Man”. “I will complete these projects and prove that Rayalaseema is not a drought region,” he said.
Indian School of Agriculture
The ISA, modelled on the Indian School of Business, will provide technology-driven guidance to farmers and work on digital agriculture, precision farming, crop monitoring, smart irrigation and market intelligence. The State signed a memorandum of understanding with Reliance for the school on August 3.
Thanking Reliance Industries for supporting the institution, Mr. Naidu said it should focus on creating agricultural leaders and bringing research, AI, agri-tech and modern farming practices closer to farmers. He described Reliance executive director Anant Ambani as an “adopted son of Andhra Pradesh”, citing his animal-welfare work through Vantara and the electric buses he has provided for Tirumala in support of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD).
Mr. Ambani said students at the school would develop tools that warned farmers of pest attacks before they spread, drones that mapped crop health, and price intelligence “that tells a Madanapalle tomato farmer when and where to sell”.
Reliance would invest ₹1 lakh crore in compressed biogas plants in the State, creating more than three lakh jobs and bringing nearly ₹60,000 crore in revenue to the State, he said. “Through Reliance’s green energy businesses, I see an opportunity to help our Annadatas become Urjadatas,” he said.
With inputs from PTI
Published – October 02, 2026 04:07 pm IST
