New Delhi: The defence minister, Rajnath Singh, and the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, N Chandrababu Naidu, will jointly inaugurate groundbreaking ceremonies for six projects on May 15, anchoring a renewed push to make the state a hub for military manufacturing.
The defence ministry on Wednesday announced that Rajnath Singh and Naidu will preside over the laying of foundation stones and grounding ceremonies for a cluster of aerospace and defence projects at Puttaparthi, in the Sri Satya Sai district of Andhra Pradesh, on May 15, 2026.
The events signal a significant expansion of India’s domestic defence industrial base into southern India, an area that has seen growing interest from both public-sector undertakings and private manufacturers.
The centrepiece of the day’s ceremonies will be the foundation stone for an Aircraft Integration and Flight Testing Centre, to be built by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA).
The facility is designed to handle the integration, testing, validation and certification of military aircraft, and is intended to accelerate work on the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) – India’s most ambitious indigenous fighter jet programme.
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The AMCA, a fifth-generation stealth fighter being developed by the ADA under the aegis of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), has been in development for over a decade.
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Cabinet committee on security approved the programme formally in March 2024, and the government has since moved to fast-track prototype development. A dedicated flight-testing centre is considered a critical missing link, as India currently relies on existing test ranges that are stretched by competing programmes.
Separately, Rajnath Singh will lay the foundation stone for a Naval Systems Manufacturing Facility for Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) at T Sirasapalli village in Anakapalli district.
BDL, a Hyderabad-based defence public-sector undertaking that specializes in guided missiles and allied systems, will use the new facility to scale up production of advanced underwater weapon systems and naval combat equipment.
India has been expanding its undersea deterrence capabilities, particularly in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean, where Chinese naval presence has grown steadily.
Three further grounding ceremonies are scheduled for the same day. Agneyastra Energetics Limited, a subsidiary of the Kalyani Strategic Systems Limited, will break ground on a Defence Energetics Facility – a plant expected to produce propellants and explosive materials for munitions.
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HFCL Limited, a telecommunications-to-defence conglomerate, will inaugurate an Ammunition and Electric Fuzes Plant at Madakasira, also within Sri Satya Sai district. The involvement of HFCL, which has been expanding aggressively into defence electronics and ammunition, reflects the government’s policy of encouraging private-sector participation under its ‘Make in India’ defence manufacturing push.
The sixth initiative comprises an array of projects earmarked for a proposed ‘Drone City’ at Kurnool.
Andhra Pradesh has been actively marketing itself as a destination for unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturing, and the state government has held discussions with multiple drone startups and established defence firms.
The Kurnool initiative fits into a broader national strategy: India’s defence ministry has in recent years ring-fenced hundreds of items for domestic procurement only, with drones and drone components among the highest-priority categories.
The ceremonies are also expected to include the signing of several memoranda of understanding between the central government’s defence entities and the government of Andhra Pradesh. The state has been positioning itself as a rival to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in attracting defence investment, offering land, infrastructure support and a single-window clearance system to manufacturers.
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Puttaparthi, known internationally as the hometown of the late spiritual leader Sathya Sai Baba, is an unusual choice for heavy industrial development but benefits from existing road and rail connectivity. Its location in Sri Satya Sai district places it within the ambit of the state’s broader infrastructure corridor plans linking it to Bengaluru.
India has set a target of achieving ₹3 lakh crore in defence production by the financial year 2028-29, up from roughly ₹1.27 lakh crore in 2023-24. Exports are to reach ₹50,000 crore by the same deadline.
