Agrarian Rayalaseema's dream for an industrial future

The Hindu

01-08-2025

The face of 80-year-old Munaswamy from Vijayapuram in Nagari assembly segment reflects the struggles he endured as a farmer in Rayalaseema's parched fields. Every wrinkle tells a story of the sheer gamble he had to take with unpredictable monsoons and unkept official promises in a region ever hungry for water. As a young man, he had hoped for the situation to improve, but witnessed with dismay the steady decline of his livelihood and mourned the loss of his fellow farmers to despair.
Perhaps that's why the old-timer meets news of potential industrial growth in the region with a quiet prayer on his lips. 'I hope the younger generation doesn't have to toil like us. With the climate increasingly becoming hostile, agriculture has lost its appeal here. We need industrial establishments that can employ our young,' he says. Munaswamy's family is one of the few that readily accepted the government's move to acquire a parcel of their land in Nagari revenue division.
'I hope the younger generation doesn't have to toil like us. With the climate increasingly becoming hostile, agriculture has lost its appeal here. We need industrial establishments that can employ our young'MunaswamyElderly farmer
Notorious for water distress
Comprising the combined districts of Anantapur, Chittoor, Kadapa and Kurnool, Rayalaseema is known for its semi-arid climate and perennial water scarcity, both for irrigation and drinking. A senior professor of Dr. YSR Horticultural University's Anantarajupeta campus in Annamayya district, who wished to remain anonymous, explains that Rayalaseema lacks a perennial river as it falls in the rain shadow of the Western Ghats. 'The region, as such, depends on politically contested inflows from the Krishna and Penna rivers. Indecision over the execution of inter-basin water transfer projects and incomplete canals of Handri-Neeva and Galeru-Nagari projects exacerbate the crisis,' he says.
Farmers cultivating groundnut, millets and pulses as well as horticulture crops like mango, as such, depend fully on fickle monsoons, which, over the years, has led to devastating agrarian crises. According to official records, nearly 550 farmers ended their lives in the combined Anantapur region between 2014 and 2018 owing to crop failure resulting from water distress.
The Horticulture Department in Madanapalle revenue division observe that unreliable surface water, overexploited groundwater, high input costs and unremunerative prices have all contributed to breaking the back of the Rayalaseema farmer.
Impending industrial boom?
Nonetheless, Rayalaseema is now undergoing a profound transformation driven by projects such as the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor, the Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway and the recently sanctioned Kadapa-Bengaluru double line railway project. Already, the Tirupati-Madanapalle NH-71, a four-lane road, has slashed travel time between the two cities from four hours to two.
Farmers like 63-year-old Abbaiah Naidu from Piler in Annamayya district, who had contributed his farmland to the NH, hope that the project heralds industrial growth in the district. A large number of farmers who had parted with their land, be it an acre or a few cents, for various road and railway projects across Chittoor, Annamayya and Tirupati districts dream of a Rayalaseema teeming with agro-based and greenfield industrial units.
Youth entrepreneurship
Disillusioned by agricultural uncertainties, most of the region's youth pursue higher education in engineering, science and technology, with many having already migrated to cities like Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru and abroad.
The recent developments in the region's infrastructure, however, have spurred renewed interest among the youth in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
General Manager of the Department of Industries C. Suri Babu says many are approaching industries officials and banks with proposals to establish enterprises in food processing, textiles, bio-energy, ethanol plants, printing, dairy development, hotel and tourism industries. Notably, some are forming groups to overcome financial hurdles and win the confidence of bank with Detailed Project Reports (DPRs).
Munaswamy says his 25-year-old granddaughter, Radhika, who now resides in Australia, wants to start a groundnut oil extraction unit and a dairy.
Suri Babu says agro-based MSMEs have much potential in a rain-shadow district like Chittoor. The poultry sector, for instance, has an annual turnover of ₹7,000 crore and the dairy sector, ₹4,000 crore in the district As Amul, Mother and Shreeja dairies, which have units in Chittoor district, expand their operations, this figure is bound to rise further, he says.
Forty-eight-year-old Vidyasagar from Sankranthipalle in Bangarupalem mandal of Chittoor district is a success story. He began his MSME, 'Girish Aqua', a mineral water plant, a decade ago. The plant now supplies packaged drinking water across Rayalaseema and also cater to community and official functions. Vidyasagar says he invested ₹15 lakh when he started out. Now, the annual turnover of the business is ₹2 crore
'When I started the unit, my objective was to supply purified water to the rural people. Now, I have expanded the business to include pet bottles as well,' he says.
Suri Babu says they are trying to educate the youth, particularly engineering graduates, about the importance of entrepreneurship. The Department of Industries sensitises educated and unemployed youth on the prospects of becoming entrepreneurs.
Field-level officials hold regular camps in rural areas and educational institutions. When an aspiring entrepreneur submits a DPR and seek suggestions, officials sometimes tweak the ideas to make them eligible for loans. Major ideas to have come so far include chicken processing, dairy development and textile units.
A number of poultry units have already come up along the Chittoor-Bengaluru NH between Chittoor and Palamaner. In Kuppam and Palamaner areas, many youth have established small-scale dairies with half to a dozen heads of cattle, supplying milk to major players such as Heritage, Amul, Shreeja and Mother, the officer says.
A revenue official, who played a key role in solving the unrest among the mango farmers in Chittoor district and who wished to be anonymous, says the prices of mangoes slipped to ₹6 a kg this season because the district does not have enough mango processing units. 'The handful of units were too afraid of purchasing more fruits as they already had stocks from previous years. The same is the case with tomato cultivation. More processing units is the key to overcome this issue,' he says.
Fisheries: an unlikely growth story
Another growing sector in Rayalaseema is fisheries and aquaculture. A number of youth from SPSR Nellore district who are beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) now transport fish and prawns to Tirupati and other Rayalaseema towns, Chennai, Bengaluru and beyond. One of them is 30-year-old Subramanyam from Nellore.
He procures prawns from aqua farmers in Kavali and Gudur and the popular Korameenu fish from the Godavari districts, mainly from Bhimavaram, and supplies them to Rayalaseema towns and major cities. Subramanyam launched his business with an investment of ₹1.7 lakh four years ago and now has a monthly turnover of ₹25 lakh. He employs four youth and has plans to enter into exports to South East Asian countries in 2026.
To support economic growth in Rayalaseema, Andhra Pradesh Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (APIIC) is planning to establish industrial parks at constituency levels. Land acquisition for some of these parks has begun in Nagari, Kuppam and Palamaner areas.
A senior revenue official in Puttaparthi, who sought anonymity, says that once an industrial boom sets in, the governments would be forced to come up with ways to bring water to the parched regions. 'This would in turn boost agriculture as well. One can see how this played out in Sri Sathya Sai district, before and after the establishment of the Kia industries,' says the officer.
Challenges before MSMEs
A lack of coordination between the Department of Industries and banks often leads to delays in DPR approvals. Moreover, sector other than dairy and poultry don't get much official patronage, according to Gujjala Eswaraiah, CPI State secretariat member, Kadapa.
'There is a lot of political interference in the MSME sector. A youth with political backing can venture into any field, whereas a youth from poorer sections of society find it a Herculean task to get their DPRs cleared and loans sanctioned'Gujjala EswaraiahCPI State secretariat member, Kadapa
Most of the young aspiring entrepreneurs in the region hail from urban areas such as Kadapa, Tirupati and Kurnool, with very few coming from rural areas. 'There is a lot of political interference in the MSME sector. A youth with political backing can venture into any field, whereas a youth from poorer sections of society find it a Herculean task to get their DPRs cleared and loans sanctioned. Despite the claims of the government, SC and ST communities lag behind in MSMEs,' he says.
Though the MSME revolution began two decades ago, it is yet to take root in Rayalaseema, he says. 'APIIC owns thousands of acres in Rayalaseema, but they are not serious about allocating land to MSMEs. As such, it's a big challenge for the entrepreneur to find land for their businesses and show it to banks for obtaining loans.'
He also underlined how the people in Rayalaseema dreamt of an industrial revolution when the late Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy laid the foundation stone for a steel plant in Kadapa in 2007. In 2018, the then Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu laid another foundation stone for a steel plant in Kadapa. In 2019 and 2024, it was the turn of the then Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to lay the foundation stones. Yet, the steel plant is yet to come up, he says. Lack of a railway line passing through the rural areas of core Rayalaseema is another hurdle for the MSME revolution in the region, he says.
Suri Babu says that shortage of labour suitable for MSME units is another major challenge as most skilled labourers preferring to work in cities for higher wages.
As Rayalaseema experiences an infrastructure boom, proper support can help usher an industrial revolution to the region, with youth as flagbearers. By addressing the challenges in capital shortage, political will and skilled labour, the government can ensure that young entrepreneurs become wealth and employment generators for a region, long plagued by economic uncertainties.