Anantapur: The decades’ old dream of a steel plant in Kadapa of Rayalaseema has failed to materialise despite several attempts of Congress, TD and YSRC governments to make the plant a reality.
Not much dissimilar is the promise of backward Rayalaseema region getting a full-fledged central university, as promised when Andhra Pradesh got bifurcated.
There had been considerable sound and lighting when Karnataka mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy promised to establish the Kadapa Steel Plant in the name of Brahmani Steels. It just remained a promise.
Then came incorporation of YSR Steel Corporation for which Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy laid the foundation stone on December 23, 2019 at Sunnapuralla Palle in Kadapa district. The plant is expected to use the latest green technologies in steel-making.
Next, the JSW came forward to invest ₹8,800 crore in two phases for setting up the steel plant in Sunnapuralla Palle village in Kadapa district. CM Jagan Mohan Reddy laid the foundation stone for this steel plant last year.
However, no plant has become a reality yet, though the raw material is said to be in proximity, with the area being able to leverage connectivity by road, rail, sea and air.