Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu inaugurated a gold refining plant at Jonnagiri in Kurnool district's Tuggali mandal on Wednesday and laid the foundation stone for a second processing unit at the same site, formally launching commercial gold production in Andhra Pradesh.
The plant has started operations with a capacity of 400 kilograms of gold a year, and officials say that figure is expected to climb toward 1,000 kilograms annually as the second unit comes online. Naidu said roughly 800 jobs have already been created at the site, with another 1,500 expected in the near term and up to 5,000 over the long run as the mining and refining operations expand.
Jonnagiri sits in a belt of Rayalaseema long associated with historical gold and gem deposits, a heritage Naidu invoked at the inauguration, recalling that the area was once known locally as Suvarnagiri, or 'golden hill,' and linking it to inscriptions from the Ashokan era. He framed the project as the start of a broader push to revive mining-led growth across the region, alongside other announced initiatives such as a planned drone manufacturing hub in Kurnool and a proposed High Court bench for the city.
Gold is among India's largest import expenses after crude oil, and domestic refining capacity has been a long-standing policy priority for both the Centre and mineral-rich states. A tonne of annual output from a single site would still be a small fraction of India's gold demand, but the project marks one of the first significant private gold-processing operations to go live in southern India outside the historic Kolar Gold Fields belt in neighbouring Karnataka, which the Chief Minister referenced directly in his remarks.
State officials said the Jonnagiri facility is part of a wider set of industrial investments the Naidu government has been courting for Rayalaseema, a traditionally drought-prone and economically lagging region, as it looks to position mineral processing and allied manufacturing as a growth driver alongside agriculture and irrigation projects already under way there.
