Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu inaugurated the first unit of the Jonnagiri Gold Mining Project of the Geomysore Services India Pvt. Limited (GMSI),at Jonnagiri of Tuggali mandal in Kurnool district on June 24, 2026 (Wednesday). He also laid the foundation stone for the second unit of the project.

Addressing a public meeting later, the Chief Minister said the project marked the beginning of the transformation of Rayalaseema into “Ratanala Seema.”

Model growth centre

“Jonnagiri, once known as Suvarnagiri, will emerge as a model growth centre for Andhra Pradesh,” Mr. Naidu said, and recalled that the Rayalaseema region had a historic connection with the processing of gold and precious stones, and referred to the Ashokan inscriptions as evidence of its past prominence.

Karnataka’s Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) had once dominated the national scene, he said, adding that the “Jonnagiri unit is now the cynosure of all eyes” as gold was one of India’s largest foreign exchange outflows after crude oil imports.

“The Jonnagiri plant has commissioned its operations with an annual capacity of 400 kg of gold. Production will be scaled up to 1,000 kg in the future,” Mr. Naidu said, adding that it had already created 800 jobs. It would soon generate employment for another 1,500 families and eventually provide nearly 5,000 jobs, he said.

Underlining the importance of creating a jewellery manufacturing unit in the Rayalaseema region, the Chief Minister observed that value addition would deepen the industrial base and create more skilled employment. He said Andhra Pradesh had become a byword for speed-of-doing business and Rayalaseema was receiving investments once considered improbable.

HC Bench, steel plant

Mr. Naidu said that Kurnool would get the country’s largest Drone City. The government was working to establish a High Court Bench in the district at the earliest and a steel plant would begin its operations in the Rayalaseema region by 2028, he said.

Crediting former Chief Minister N.T. Rama Rao with envisioning irrigation projects to protect the drought-prone region, Mr. Naidu said their completion remained crucial to Rayalaseema’s revival.

‘YSRCP caste politics’

Lashing out at the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), he said that Andhra Pradesh had been subjected to “destructive rule” between 2019 and 2024. The YSRCP government had systematically promoted “poisonous, divisive, and caste-driven politics,” he alleged, and accused the opposition party leaders of attempting to exploit the alleged custodial death of G. Sai Krishna in Vijayawada by giving it the caste colour, instead of allowing the facts to emerge through due process.

Mr. Naidu also condemned the YSRCP leaders for targeting Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan with abusive remarks. “The government is fully capable of giving a fitting response to such attacks,” the Chief Minister said.

On the YSRCP’s allegations on Mega DSC, the Chief Minister said the opposition party had failed to respond to HRD Minister N. Lokesh’s challenge to a debate on the issue. “Their silence has exposed the hollowness of their accusations,” Mr. Naidu said.

The Chief Minister further said that the government had shifted nearly 11,000 employees from the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) to the Old Pension System (OPS) despite not making such a poll promise, claiming it brought relief to their families.