A global horticultural hub worth 1 trillion rupees has been established in Andhra Pradesh

On Friday, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman laid the foundation stone for a global horticulture hub in Madanapalle. The project, with a total investment of ₹1 lakh-crore, is planned to be implemented in three phases. According to an official release, the NDA-led government will contribute ₹40,352 crore, while the remaining ₹60,000 crore will be attracted from the private sector.

The initiative will cover 10 districts: Anantapur, Annamayya, Chittoor, Kurnool, Nandyal, Sri Sathya Sai, Tirupati, Kadapa, Prakasam, and Markapuram. Work will unfold across 201 clusters, encompassing 303 mandals and 5,869 villages. The project envisions expanding the area under horticultural crops from the current 8.41 lakh hectares by an additional 6 lakh hectares — reaching a total mark of 14.41 lakh hectares. Production is expected to increase from 222 lakh to 435 lakh metric tonnes, directly benefiting 9.6 lakh farmers.

As part of the project, the ISA institute will also be established, modeled after the Indian School of Business. Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has expressed its readiness to cooperate with the state government in establishing and managing this institution. ISA will promote agricultural development using modern technologies, scientific research, digital farming, precision farming, crop monitoring, smart irrigation, and market analytics, as well as provide tech-oriented recommendations to farmers.