The first phase of the steel plant to be set up in Sunnapurallapalle, YSR Kadapa district is set to begin in January 2026. The government has approved JSW’s proposals for setting up the plant. The first phase of the work will cost Rs. 4,500 crore and the second phase of the work will cost Rs. 11,850 crore.
The government has allocated 1,100 acres of land in Sunnapurallapalle to the company for the steel plant at Rs. 5 lakh per acre. The government has ordered that the work should start in January next year and be completed by April. It has been clarified that the second phase of the work should start by January 2031 and production should start by April 2034.
Although the groundwork for the plant was done in the past, the plant work was delayed due to various reasons. Government officials and JSW company representatives have already conducted a survey in Sunnapurallapalle. It remains as a big challenge for Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu to fulfil his major promise to Rayalaseema.
It may be recalled as national president of the TDP, he promised during party Mahanadu in Kadapa that the long-time dream of Rayalaseema people to have a steel plant work would be started on June 12, 2025 under the auspices of JSW. However, despite the expiry of the deadline given by him, hardly considerable progress is seen.
The promise made in the AP Reorganization Act to set up a steel industry under the auspices of SAIL in Kadapa district is being implemented with utter negligence. In this regard, the major sabotage was said to be played by the NDA government at the center, which came to power after the 2014 general elections, enacting dramas in the name of lack of feasibility.
The then Chief Minister Chandrababu laid the foundation stone in Kambaladinne, Mylavaram mandal, Jammalamadugu constituency in February 2018 under the pretext that the state government would set up a steel industry. After the 2019 general elections, the then YSRCP government laid the foundation stone of the YSR Steel Corporation on 3,200 acres near Pedda Gandluru- Sunnapurallapally in Jammalamadugu constituency in the district.
Later, under the auspices of JSW, one of the leading steel giants in the country, the foundation stone was laid for the construction of a steel industry at a cost of Rs. 15,000 crores. The TDP coalition government came to power in the 2024 general elections.
The 7.5 km road works undertaken with a budget of Rs. 500 crore during the YSRCP government’s tenure, which were part of the infrastructure construction works undertaken with a budget of Rs. 13 crore, the formation road works completed for 6.5 km.
Moreover, compound wall construction works, water reservoir construction works, railway line, water supply pipeline works undertaken from Brahmasagar reservoir with a budget of Rs. 150 crore, and SS tank construction works, have not seen any payment of bills. These developments posing a greater challenge for Chandrababu Naidu to implement his promise.
