Hyderabad: As images of the Amara Raja Group’s new lithium-ion Giga Corridor project in Telangana were splashed across newspapers Thursday, Andhra Pradesh IT and Electronics Minister Nara Lokesh wrote an anguished apology to Amara Raja Group head Jayadev Galla for being “driven away” by the previous Jagan Mohan Reddy regime.
“Andhra Pradesh owes you an apology,” Nara Lokesh wrote on X, reacting to images of Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy inaugurating the Group’s new customer qualification plant (CQP).
The facility, now in Telangana’s Mahabubnagar district, has been built with an investment of Rs 500 crore. It forms part of the company’s broader Rs 9,500 crore, 16 GWh Gigafactory programme, Amara Raja said earlier in a release issued during the inauguration. The plant will manufacture lithium-ion cells that customers can test and validate ahead of commercial production.
Former Telugu Desam Party MP Jay Galla’s lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant was initially supposed to come up in Andhra Pradesh when Jagan was chief minister, and expand into an advanced research and engineering centre in Chittoor. However it was relocated to Telangana after the then Jagan government initiated a series of actions against the Amara Raja Group’s manufacturing units.
Galla represented the Guntur parliamentary constituency twice, and his mother, Galla Aruna Kumari, was a four-time Congress MLA from the Chandragiri constituency. She was also a minister in YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s cabinet before Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated in 2014.
Andhra Pradesh had lost a historic industrial opportunity due to the “harassment and intimidation” faced by one of its most respected home-grown enterprises, Nara Lokesh wrote on X. “Over four decades, Amara Raja has been more than just one of Andhra Pradesh’s greatest industrial success stories. It has created world-class manufacturing, generated thousands of jobs, and carried the name of Chittoor and Andhra Pradesh across India and the world.”
He went on to say that the “harassment” Galla’s company “endured under the previous government” should never have happened. “An entrepreneur who chose to build in his home state deserved encouragement, not intimidation.”
Lokesh said it was painful that a company born in Andhra Pradesh had to look beyond the state’s borders for its next chapter of growth, adding that the state would always keep its doors open. “As we rebuild trust, Andhra Pradesh is once again open for enterprise. We hope Amara Raja’s biggest chapters will still be written in the state where its journey began. Our doors, and our hearts, will always remain open.”
Amara Raja: AP’s homegrown giant
Established by industrialist Ramachandra Galla after his return from the United States, Amara Raja was built with the vision of creating employment opportunities for the youth of Chittoor district and transforming the economic landscape of Rayalaseema.
With operations in Hyderabad, Telangana, and Tirupati (Chittoor district), the Group is a USD 2 billion Indian conglomerate. It is best known for its flagship, listed entity, Amara Raja Energy & Mobility Limited, the manufacturer of Amaron batteries.
Over the years, the company grew into one of India’s most reputed manufacturing brands with a global footprint. Meanwhile, its major manufacturing operations remained in Chittoor, creating livelihoods for local families.
However, during the YSRCP regime, the company found itself at the centre of an alleged vindictive feud with the state government because its chairman Jayadev Galla, was a prominent TDP MP.
From Andhra to Telangana
The previous YSRCP government moved to reclaim nearly 253 acres of industrial land allotted to the company and later initiated a series of actions against its manufacturing units. The Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board’s closure notices to Amara Raja’s flagship battery plants in Chittoor attracted national attention. Reports also surfaced of disruptions to power and water supply to the company’s facilities, even as legal proceedings were underway.
Faced with an increasingly uncertain business environment, Amara Raja eventually shifted its ambitious ₹9,500-crore Lithium-ion Giga Corridor project to neighbouring Telangana. The inauguration of the CQP at the Divitipalli Giga Corridor marks a major milestone in that project and is being seen as a reminder of the opportunity Andhra Pradesh lost.
On Thursday, Telangana CM Revanth wrote on the X that the Amara Raja management will “maximise employment opportunities for the local youth, ensuring that the benefits of industrial growth reach the people of the region”. It is also expected to generate substantial tax revenues in Telangana.
Meanwhile, as he targeted Jagan with his apology post, Lokesh highlighted the current NDA government’s commitment to restoring investor confidence and positioned Andhra once again as a preferred destination for investments.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)