Andhra Pradesh Politics & Governance

South Coast Railway Zone begins operations from Visakhapatnam

1 June 2026

The South Coast Railway Zone began operations on 1 June, with its headquarters in Visakhapatnam. Union Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu marked the launch at Ichchapuram by unveiling the zone’s board. The zone has four divisions: Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Guntur and Guntakal.

Notable Points

• South Coast Railway: Waltair division was reorganised into Visakhapatnam division under South Coast Railway and Rayagada division under East Coast Railway.

Andhra Pradesh rice consignment sent by rail for export to China

1 June 2026

A 2,700-tonne rice consignment from Andhra Pradesh was transported by rail to the Container Corporation of India’s inland container depot at Tondiarpet, Chennai, for onward shipment to China. The rice was loaded at Samalkota and Tanuku and moved in 42 wagons. At the depot, it was transferred into containers for the sea journey.

Notable Points

• CONCOR: CONCOR began operations in November 1989, taking over seven inland container depots from Indian Railways.

Construction resumes on Vijayawada airport integrated terminal

1 June 2026

Construction resumed on the integrated terminal at Vijayawada International Airport on 1 June after a pause linked to a change in contractor. The project, estimated at about ₹500 crore, was reported to be around 80% complete, with work targeted for completion by the end of October. The terminal is intended to expand facilities for passengers.

Notable Points

• Vijayawada Airport: The airport’s runway was extended from 2,286 metres to 3,360 metres in 2019.

Andhra Pradesh seeks transition period for pending laterite-mine applications

2 June 2026

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu requested a two-year transition to process 402 pending laterite-mine lease applications under the earlier rules. The state had temporarily stopped processing them following a change in mineral-classification rules. The applications comprised 19 Letter of Intent cases, 113 on government land, 255 on forest land and 15 on patta land.

Notable Points

• Laterite minerals: Aluminium-bearing laterites can contain gibbsite, boehmite and diaspore, minerals also associated with bauxite.
• Requested transition: The state said applicants had incurred costs for application fees, land purchases and forest permissions, which the requested transition was intended to protect.

Andhra Pradesh issues guidelines to strengthen food-safety inspections

2 June 2026

Andhra Pradesh issued guidelines for joint surprise inspections by food-safety and other departments, focusing on high-risk food and drinking water. District-level committees are to review oversight every six months. The guidelines call for hygiene assessments at food businesses and mobile testing of samples. The Chief Minister also approved filling 150 food-safety laboratory posts.

Notable Points

• Food Safety on Wheels: Mobile ‘Food Safety on Wheels’ vehicles are intended to test food samples at markets and report results on site.
• Food Safety and Standards Act: The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 is India’s primary food-products law and provides for formulating and enforcing food-safety standards.
• FSSAI: FSSAI is the statutory national food-safety body administered by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

AirTrunk discusses proposed data-centre campus in Visakhapatnam

2 June 2026

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu met AirTrunk founder and chief executive Robin Khuda in Amaravati to discuss cooperation in digital infrastructure and technology. The discussions included AirTrunk’s interest in a hyperscale data-centre campus in Visakhapatnam with a proposed capacity of 2 gigawatts.

Notable Points

• AirTrunk: AirTrunk was founded in Australia by Robin Khuda in 2015.

Andhra Pradesh outlines phased transition to electric and CNG buses

3 June 2026

APSRTC outlined a phased plan for 5,500 electric buses and 500 CNG buses. Of the electric buses, 750 were expected to enter service in July and August 2026. The corporation also planned procurement of another 1,450 electric buses, targeting services from March 2027.

On 22 June, the Transport Minister said the corporation would stop buying diesel buses and prepare proposals for 8,321 electric buses and 50 CNG buses; these are procurement plans, not delivered fleet numbers.

Notable Points

• PM-eBus Sewa: Under PM-eBus Sewa, 750 electric buses were allocated to Andhra Pradesh for rental-based operation across 11 cities and 12 depots.

JSW proposes iron-ore processing plant in Prakasam

3 June 2026

JSW Steel proposed a ₹1,230-crore iron-ore processing plant in the Konijedu–Marlapadu area of Prakasam district. The proposed facility would process up ...