BEL to set up Rs.1,500 crore unit in Andhra Pradesh

Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has decided to set up a unit in the defence sector in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh with an investment of Rs.1,500 crore.

This was conveyed to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu by a delegation of officials of the public-sector company.

The company has sought 1,000 acres of land in Penugonda in Anantapur district.

The officials said the location would be ideal and closer to their headquarters in Bangalore.

The proposed facility is likely to create jobs for 500 people, said a statement from the Chief Minister's Office.

The company officials also sought land for expanding BEL's existing unit at Machilipatnam.

They informed the chief minister that IR lenses (night goggles) manufactured by BEL are in great demand and that they were also used during the Kargil war.

They urged the state government to allot 50 acres of land to increase the IR lenses production capacity from 30,000 to 2.5 lakh units.

Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh government Wednesday allotted 1,102 acres of land to the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) for a manufacturing unit in Chittoor district.

The government has fixed land price at Rs.1.25 lakh per acre.

The government also allotted 500 acres of land for a 1,000-MW solar energy park in Anantapur district.

A four-member committee was also constituted to work out a plan for setting up natural history park in Visakhapatnam under Public Private Partnership (PPP).