Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, 1 August undertook a day-long visit to Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, inaugurating and laying the foundation stones for a clutch of infrastructure, clean energy, semiconductor, and cultural projects totalling thousands of crores in investment. The visit signals the Centre's continued push to accelerate southern India's economic and connectivity backbone.

Bhogapuram Airport: A new gateway for Andhra Pradesh

The centrepiece of the Andhra Pradesh leg was the inauguration of the Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport at Bhogapuram, a greenfield facility developed under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model at a cost of over ₹5,640 crore. Designed to handle 6 million passengers annually, the airport is expected to strengthen air connectivity, spur tourism, and attract trade and investment to the region.

Ahead of the visit, Modi posted on social media platform X, describing the airport as 'a modern and futuristic airport that will boost connectivity, commerce and tourism,' adding that 'this project also incorporates principles of sustainability and energy efficiency.'

Semiconductor Push and Renewable Energy Projects

Modi also laid the foundation stone for the ASIP Semiconductor Project in Visakhapatnam — Andhra Pradesh's first semiconductor manufacturing facility approved under the India Semiconductor Mission. The facility, backed by an investment of ₹460 crore, is projected to manufacture nearly 96 million semiconductor chips annually and generate high-skilled employment while building an ancillary ecosystem for chip manufacturing in the state.

On the clean energy front, Modi laid the foundation stone for the Transmission System for Integration of Kurnool-IV Renewable Energy Zone – Phase-I (4.5 GW), being implemented by Powergrid through a Special Purpose Vehicle at an investment of ₹5,550 crore. He also inaugurated transmission systems for the Kurnool Wind Energy Zone and Solar Energy Zone developed at ₹3,550 crore, along with a transmission scheme covering solar zones in Ananthapuram (2,500 MW) and Kurnool (1,000 MW) at a cost of ₹820 crore. Together, these projects are designed to evacuate renewable power from Kurnool and Ananthapuram and feed it into the National Grid for distribution across the country.

National Highway Projects Worth ₹1,880 Crore

The Prime Minister dedicated and laid the foundation stone for National Highway projects worth ₹1,880 crore in Andhra Pradesh. Inaugurated stretches include four-lane access-controlled greenfield highways from Recherla to Guruvaygudem and Guruvaygudem to Devarapalle on NH-365BG, as well as the four-lane Tadipatri Bypass on NH-67. A high-level bridge at Lingasamudram on the Penchalakona–Yerpedu section of NH-565 was also among the foundation stones laid.

These projects are expected to ease traffic congestion in Vijayawada and other urban centres, cut travel time between Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad, and improve road safety across the region.

Mysuru: Viveka Smaraka Inaugurated in Karnataka

From Andhra Pradesh, Modi travelled to Mysuru, Karnataka, where he inaugurated the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Youth Centre — Viveka Smaraka and addressed a public gathering. The centre commemorates Swami Vivekananda's historic visit to Mysuru in November 1892 during his pan-India journey.

Built at the historic Niranjana Math across a constructed area of over 81,000 square feet, the Viveka Smaraka houses a 4-D Experience Centre, exhibition hall, 700-seat amphitheatre, classrooms, conference rooms, a library, reading room, meditation and yoga hall, a book stall, and dedicated facilities for students preparing for competitive examinations.

Taken together, Saturday's projects span aviation, semiconductors, renewable energy, road infrastructure, and cultural heritage — reflecting the Centre's intent to simultaneously advance economic modernisation and soft-power initiatives in southern India. The next test will be whether timelines for the newly laid foundation stones hold, and whether the semiconductor facility's job projections translate into verifiable outcomes on the ground.