Civil Aviation Minister K. Rammohan Naidu said that Andhra Pradesh will be transformed into an aviation hub and Orvakallu will be developed into a drone hub. Inaugurating the two-day AP Deep Technology Summit-2025 in Visakhapatnam on Thursday, he said that despite Indians flying in large numbers across the world, we are unable to manufacture our own passenger aircraft and that we are working to fill that gap in the next five years.
“Now, deep technology, artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things, quantum computing, etc. have come into the IT sector. There is no sector that does not use this technology. Solutions to the world’s problems can be found with technology from any remote area. AP should also be at the forefront of it”, he said.
The Union Minister said that deep technology will be very useful for Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s vision of Swarnandhra-2047 to become possible. Stating that the aviation sector has developed a lot in the last ten years, he said if land is available, India has reached a stage where it can build a world-class airport in a year and a half.
“Whoever comes up with new ideas to provide better facilities to passengers, we will accept them as startups. We are inviting them from this platform. We are encouraging 100 percent domestic drone manufacturing. We have specially allocated Rs. 120 crore for this through a PLI scheme. We have also imposed a ban on the import of drone equipmen”, he added.
Former Union Minister Rajiv Chandrasekhar, STPI Additional Director Satish, and conference organizer Sridhar Kosaraju participated in the meeting. The world’s first Special Economic Zone (AI-SEZ) that works completely with artificial intelligence is located in the AP Medtech Zone in Visakhapatnam, said Jitendra Sharma, Managing Director and Founder CEO of the company.
He said that during the Covid period, 12 lakh RTPCR kits were used in the world per day, of which 11 lakh were manufactured in the Medtech Zone. He said that AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and his vision are the reason for this. He said that out of 4 CT scanner manufacturing companies in the world, one is here. He added that with the help of available doctors, the technology required for telesurgery through 5G technology is being developed.
