The Andhra Pradesh government made a compelling case for its reformed business approach at the World Economic Forum, emphasizing rapid clearances and regulatory streamlining to attract global investments across technology and manufacturing sectors.

Strategic Shift to Speed-Focused Governance

Speaking at a CNBC-TV18 panel at the state's pavilion, IT Minister Nara Lokesh outlined Andhra Pradesh's transition from focusing on ease of doing business to what he termed the "speed of doing business." The government has implemented aggressive timeline reductions and comprehensive regulatory reviews to accelerate project execution.

Lokesh emphasized that the government is challenging service-level agreements across all departments and questioning whether certain permissions are even required, aiming to institutionalize faster decision-making across the bureaucracy.

Major Investment Commitments

The reformed approach has already yielded significant results, with several global companies announcing substantial investments in the state. Google's recent commitment represents one of the most notable successes of this strategy.

Sanjay Gupta, President for Asia-Pacific at Google, confirmed that the company's $15 billion investment in Andhra Pradesh was among its fastest large-scale projects in the region. The project includes over 1 GW of data centre capacity and subsea cable infrastructure, demonstrating the state's capability to handle complex technology infrastructure projects.

Industry Validation and Future Prospects

Multiple industry leaders validated Andhra Pradesh's approach during the forum discussions. Jatin Dalal, Global CFO of Cognizant, identified Visakhapatnam as a strategic location for the company's expansion plans, citing talent availability, cost competitiveness, and policy predictability as key considerations for the industry's preparation for an AI-driven transformation.

Consulting firm Kearney provided broader context for the state's strategy. Suketu Gandhi, the firm's Global Chair for Strategic Operations, emphasized that countries combining rapid decision-making with execution at scale would attract disproportionate investment shares as global supply chains undergo restructuring.

Long-term Development Framework

The state government has anchored its investment strategy around three core pillars under its Swarnandhra 2047 roadmap:

• Job creation through targeted industrial development
• Cluster-based development for sector-specific growth
• Long-term policy continuity ensuring investor confidence

Lokesh stated that Andhra Pradesh aims to position itself as a scalable model for industrial and technology-led growth in India, focusing particularly on data centres, artificial intelligence, manufacturing, and renewable energy sectors.

Renewable Energy and Manufacturing Focus

ReNew's Chairman and CEO Sumant Sinha highlighted how the state's responsiveness and faster approvals influenced the company's decision to commit to a solar manufacturing facility and explore additional projects. This demonstrates the strategy's effectiveness across diverse sectors beyond technology infrastructure.

The comprehensive approach addresses global companies' needs for speed, transparency, and partnership-oriented governance, positioning Andhra Pradesh as a preferred destination for large-scale investments in emerging technology sectors.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu announced on January 17 the establishment of a new spaceport at Hope Island in Kakinada Bay, marking a significant expansion in India's space launch infrastructure. The facility is positioned as part of the state's proposed Space City initiative and is expected to primarily support private launch providers.

India's Expanding Spaceport Network

With Naidu's announcement, India will operate three spaceports to serve different mission requirements:

The state government has not yet released specific timelines or technical specifications for the new Hope Island facility.

Focus on Commercial Launch Operations

Officials indicated that the Hope Island spaceport is being planned specifically with commercial launches in mind. This strategic positioning aligns with India's growing space ecosystem, which has seen increased participation from private companies developing small and medium-lift launch vehicles in recent years.

The new site is expected to complement ISRO's existing facilities rather than replace them. SDSC-SHAR will continue handling major national missions, while newer sites like Hope Island are being designed to handle specific orbital needs and accommodate smaller rockets from private operators.

Geographic Advantages for Launch Operations

Launch geography plays a crucial role in mission efficiency. Earth's rotation from west to east provides natural velocity boost to rockets launched eastward, with the planet's surface moving at approximately 1,650.00 km/h at the equator. This rotational speed decreases with latitude, reaching near zero at the poles.

Launch sites closer to the equator benefit significantly from this rotation, as rockets begin their flight with built-in horizontal velocity, reducing fuel requirements. However, polar orbit launches do not gain this advantage since their trajectory cuts across Earth's rotation.

Addressing Current Launch Path Limitations

Present launches into polar orbits from Sriharikota require a 'dog-leg' maneuver to avoid flying over Sri Lanka, which costs additional energy. While this adjustment is manageable for larger vehicles like PSLV, GSLV, and LVM3, smaller rockets face more significant penalties.

Vehicles such as SSLV, Vikram-1, and Agnibaan are more sensitive to these energy losses. To address this challenge, ISRO is already constructing the SSLV launch complex at Kulasekharapatnam, which will focus on polar orbit missions and support both ISRO and private players when ready by 2027.

The Hope Island spaceport represents Andhra Pradesh's commitment to becoming a major hub in India's expanding commercial space sector, providing dedicated infrastructure for the growing private launch industry.