Krishnapatnam Industrial Area: Connectivity — Roads, Rail, Port and Airport Links

Location and Road Access

The Krishnapatnam node under the Chennai–Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC) is split across two sites roughly 60 km apart. the total land available for development has been identified as 11,096 acres and the Node spreads across two sites of about 60 km apart, i.e. North Node and South Node. The North Node is located along the coastline south of Krishnapatnam Port in SPSR Nellore district. The North Node covers eight villages in Chillakuru and Kota mandals, SPSR Nellore district.

The South site is in Chittoor District, located at about 100 kms south-west of Krishnapatnam Port. It is about 2 km south of NH 71 and presently connected to NH 71 through existing district/village roads. The Activation Area in Phase-1 has been located in the North Node, to maximize the benefit of land under the ownership of Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) to enable early commencement of plan implementation activities.

Highways and Expressways

The North Node's primary highway link is NH-16, the coastal national highway running from Chennai through Nellore to Visakhapatnam and Kolkata. The North Node is about 20 Kms east of NH-16 and presently connected through existing State highways/ district/ village roads from NH-16. North Node is connected to NH-16 through three different routes consisting mainly of State Highways having undivided two-lane configuration, with a distance of 20-30km approximately.

On the wider corridor, upgrading of NH-16 itself is a mixed picture: the NH-16 from Tada to Visakhapatnam has largely been expanded to six lanes over the years, but the crucial Nellore-Tada section has remained a bottleneck, with six-laning works on that stretch reported to be gaining momentum as of mid-2026. The South Node, in Chittoor district, sits close to NH-71 rather than NH-16. The node also has existing road connectivity to major cities and economic centers – Bengaluru, Anantapur, Vijayawada and Chennai. No dedicated new-build expressway (as distinct from NH widening) has been announced specifically for this node as of mid-2026.

Rail and Dedicated Freight Corridor

The nearest passenger/goods stations to the North Node are on the existing Indian Railways network. Krishnapatnam Railway station is the closest station to the North node, lying only 15 km away from the site; Gudur Railway junction is 40km from the project location.

The most significant rail asset for the node is the freight-only Krishnapatnam Port–Venkatachalam–Obulavaripalli line, built to serve the port's hinterland. It was developed in two phases: Phase I, a dedicated 19 km line connecting the port to the Chennai–Kolkata main line, and Phase II, a 91 km new broad-gauge line between the port and Obulavaripalle in the former Cuddapah (Kadapa) district, with an outlay of ₹600 crore. The 21 km Krishnapatnam-to-Venkatachalam section has been in operation since July 2009 as a single line and was converted to double line in March 2014.

The longer Obulavaripalli–Venkatachalam extension became fully operational in 2019 after completion of a major tunnel. The tunnel was completed in a record time of 43 months, and two freight trains successfully ran on 25 June 2019, marking full-scale operation of the newly built electrified railway line between the two stations, opening up viable rail connectivity between Krishnapatnam Port and its hinterland for goods train services. This paved the way to operate freight trains on the Obulavaripalli–Venkatachalam–Krishnapatnam Port line for a distance of 113 km, now notified for commercial freight operations. It is similar to the Dedicated Freight Corridors in that it is primarily meant for freight traffic (iron ore export), with no present plan for passenger services. No metro rail or Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) proposal has been identified for the Krishnapatnam node as of mid-2026 — the corridor's transit focus is exclusively freight-rail and road.

Port Connectivity

Krishnapatnam Port, an operational deep-water port owned by Adani Ports & SEZ, is the anchor logistics asset for the node. Krishnapatnam Port is the closest port to the North node, lying only 10 km away from the site. The port has a draft of 18.5 metres, able to accommodate fully-loaded capesize vessels of 200,000-tonne capacity, and currently has capacity to handle 64 million tonnes of cargo from 13 berths.

A further expansion is under regulatory clearance. After completion of the third phase, the port will have an overall capacity to handle 250 mt of non-container cargo and 5.5 million TEUs of containers. This phase will add approximately 20 berths and three Single Buoy Moorings (SBMs) to handle an additional 154 Mt of dry and liquid bulk cargo and 2.2 million TEUs of containers. Note that in October 2024 the port's container operations were reported to have been reoriented toward bulk cargo. The port also offers integrated multi-modal cargo evacuation: cargo can be received and evacuated by sea, road, rail, conveyors and pipelines, and the port can handle 40 rakes per day for inbound and outbound cargo.

Airports

No airport lies within the industrial node itself; the North Node currently depends on airports elsewhere in the region. The closest airport to the northern node is Tirupati International Airport, within 90km, and Chennai airport within 170 km.

A dedicated greenfield airport near Nellore has long been planned but has faced repeated delays. The Andhra Pradesh government initially identified a 2,600-acre plot near Dagadarthi for the project, but it was abandoned due to limited local cooperation, before resurfacing on a smaller footprint. As of January 2026, the project has been revived with formal state backing: the project has received in-principle clearance from the Ministry of Civil Aviation and a Request for Proposal has been issued for private participation; it will be developed on 1,332.80 acres, with Phase-1 designed to handle 1.4 million passengers per annum, scalable up to 15 million passengers annually in the long term. The airport is positioned to have excellent connectivity to national highway corridors, Krishnapatnam Port and Ramayapatnam Port, and industrial clusters including KRIS City and IFFCO SEZs. As of January 2026, this airport remains at the approval/RFP stage — it is not operational or under physical construction.

Internal Trunk Infrastructure

Within the Phase 1 activation area, internal roads and utilities are being built as part of a single EPC trunk-infrastructure contract rather than a separately notified road plan. The Government of India approved construction of various trunk infrastructure components in Phase 1 of Krishnapatnam Industrial Area; the EPC tender for the Phase 1 Activation Area was finalised, and a Project Management Consultant has also been appointed.

Progress through 2024–2026 has moved from tendering to execution. The SPV was incorporated on 7 August 2018; GoI approved the project on 30 December 2020 for a Phase 1 area of 2,500 acres; state government land transfer and matching equity followed; environmental clearance was granted by MoEF&CC on 10 May 2022; the EPC contractor was appointed in February 2024; the Hon'ble Prime Minister laid the foundation stone on 8 January 2025; and development of internal trunk infrastructure works is in progress. The project was further reviewed by the Prime Minister during the 49th Pragati Meeting on 24 September 2025.