Amaravati: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Andhra Pradesh on Thursday to lay the foundation stone and inaugurate development projects worth Rs 13,000 crore, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said on Wednesday.

Addressing a teleconference with ministers, MPs, MLAs, MLCs and NDA alliance leaders from Nandyal and Kurnool districts, the Chief Minister urged all National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners to ensure the Prime Minister’s visit to Srisailam and Kurnool is a grand success.

Naidu said the state was witnessing rapid progress under the double-engine government, with strong cooperation from the Centre. The Prime Minister will begin his visit with prayers at Srisailam temple, followed by a public meeting in Kurnool, where he will address the people on the benefits of the GST 2.0 reforms.

Highlighting the upcoming reforms, Naidu said every family in the State would benefit by nearly Rs15,000 through GST 2.0, which aimed at simplifying taxation and boosting household savings. The State government has already launched a month-long campaign to raise awareness about these reforms under the banner “Super GST, Super Savings.”

The Chief Minister said the Prime Minister’s visit would mark a turning point for Srisailam, a major Shaiva and Shakti pilgrimage center. “After Tirumala, we are developing Srisailam as a temple with both Jyotirlingam and Shakti Peetham status,” Naidu said, expressing confidence that the visit would usher in a new era of growth and spiritual prominence for the region.

Naidu also announced that Andhra Pradesh had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Google in Delhi on Tuesday to establish a $15 billion Artificial Intelligence Data Hub in Visakhapatnam, the largest foreign direct investment (FDI) in India so far. “This is a historic agreement,” the Chief Minister said, recalling how the arrival of Microsoft in Hyderabad in 1998 had transformed the city into a global IT hub. “Now, Visakhapatnam will emerge as India’s biggest data and AI center,” he said.

The Chief Minister noted that large-scale industries were being set up in Rayalaseema, while border districts were becoming hubs for horticultural crops. Connectivity improvements through ports and railways, he said, were generating wealth across the State.

Taking a swipe at the previous YSRCP administration, Naidu said Andhra Pradesh had suffered not just due to bifurcation but also because of “destruction caused by misgovernance.” He added that initiatives like Yoga Andhra and Amaravati Restart were helping restore the State’s growth momentum.

Naidu said all necessary arrangements had been made for the Prime Minister’s programmes in Kurnool and Srisailam.