India has been building a network of industrial corridors to link its major cities and increase the manufacturing growth, and the Hyderabad-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor is one of the newer additions to this network. It is built as an extension to the older Hyderabad-Nagpur Industrial Corridor, with the goal of connecting central India to the south. The corridor spans across three states, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, with the massive industrial node coming up in Orvakal, near Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh’s Rayalaseema region.
Orvakal was chosen as the first node to be developed under HBIC. The state government has published a final master plan covering around 9,719 acres in total, with just over half of that land set aside purely for industrial use.
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Industrial use share is approximately 52% of the total land
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Phase 1 is around 1,424 acres, phase 2 is near to 3,594 acres, and phase 3 is approximately 5,017 acres
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Remaining land will be used for construction of roads, housing, commercial space, public utilities, green cover and waterbodies
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Special zone is 300 acres earmarked as Drone City for advanced drone manufacturing
Connectivity: Why Orvakal Was Chosen
The site is near NH 40, the highway that links Hyderabad to Chennai by running through Kurnool, Nandyal, Kadapa and Tirupati which is within easy reach of two of South India’s biggest cities. It also has its own airport, the Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy Airport, which began operations in 2021 and currently runs flights to Bengaluru, Chennai and Visakhapatnam. For industries that need to transport goods, the combination of highway and air connectivity is a real advantage. Along with this, HBIC is planned to serve as a link between two other major corridors which are the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor and the Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor, which could turn this stretch of Andhra Pradesh into a well-connected industrial belt.
Investment and Industries Expected
The Andhra Pradesh government is targeting close to ₹50,000 crore in investment for Orvakal across sectors like food processing, manufacturing and logistics. Given its proximity to ports and freight corridors, the region is seen as a strong fit for export-oriented food processing and manufacturing units. The state has been offering industrial incentives, faster approvals and readily available land to attract private investors, and the drone manufacturing zone within the node suggests the government is also trying to attract newer, high-tech industries.
Employment and Regional Growth
Once operational, Orvakal is expected to generate significant direct and indirect employment for people in the Rayalaseema region, an area that has historically lagged behind coastal Andhra Pradesh in industrial development. Officials have repeatedly described the node as a way to boost job creation and economic growth in the district, and the scale of planned investment suggests the impact could extend well beyond Kurnool to the wider region.
HBIC was first announced in 2007, it saw little movement for years before formal government approval finally came through in 2020. Here’s how the timeline has unfolded since,
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2020: HBIC formally approved by the Government of India
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2021: Orvakal’s Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy Airport becomes operational
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August 2024: Project’s load specifications formally announced
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Late 2024: Consultants complete site survey, base mapping, technical assessment and preliminary master plan
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July 2025: Andhra Pradesh government approves the final master plan for Orvakal’s 9,719 acres
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Late 2025: EPC tendering activity underway for infrastructure works under the project’s special purpose vehicle, with land parcels being progressively transferred
Nodes like Krishnapatnam and Tumakuru under the Chennai-Bengaluru corridor are already scheduled for completion by 2026, while Orvakal’s exact timeline will depend on how quickly land handover and construction contracts move forward.
Also read: Coimbatore Airport Expansion: Why Neelambur, Chinniyampalayam and Irugur Could See a Real Estate Boost
The Road Ahead
Orvakal is shaping up to be one of the more ambitious industrial bets in Rayalaseema, backed by strong highway and air connectivity, a large land bank, and serious investment targets. But like most infrastructure projects of this scale, the real test will be execution, how fast contractors are appointed, land is handed over, and the first industries actually break ground. For now, it’s a project worth watching for anyone tracking India’s next wave of industrial growth.