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Andhra Pradesh powers ahead with major EV mobility MoU
VISAKHAPATNAM: Andhra Pradesh has hit the accelerator on its clean transport ambitions, signing an MoU that puts the state firmly in the fast lane of India’s electric mobility race.
A consortium of ThunderPlus, ETO Motors and Roqit has inked a Rs 515 crore agreement with the Andhra Pradesh Government at the Partnership Summit in Visakhapatnam, setting the wheels in motion for one of India’s most ambitious state-led EV mobility and charging programmes. The pact, formalised with the Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board, is expected to generate more than 5,000 jobs, including 1,450 direct roles, with a strong focus on women-led employment.
Endorsed by chief minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu in the presence of Industries and Commerce minister TG Bharath, the initiative aims to create the country’s first fully integrated multi-modal EV ecosystem. This blueprint ties together EV manufacturing, city and intercity electric transport, statewide charging infrastructure and a unified digital ticketing platform.
ThunderPlus, the consortium lead, will build the core charging backbone. Plans include urban charging hubs, large depots for electric buses, and park-and-charge points across residential, commercial and metro zones. For highways, the company will install 120 kW chargers every 25 kilometres and 1 MW ultra-fast chargers every 100 kilometres to support electric buses, trucks and long-haul logistics. It has already set up a 3 MW ultra-fast hub in Vijayawada and 0.5 MW sites in Nellajarla and Visakhapatnam, and is advancing works along the Vizag–Chennai Industrial Corridor.
The rollout begins in two clusters, the Amaravati Capital Region, covering Gannavaram Airport, Vijayawada, Amaravati and Guntur, and the Visakhapatnam Urban Region spanning NAD Junction, Pendurty, Simhachalam and Dwarakanagar. These will form the first operational corridors of the state’s integrated EV shuttle system. A sizeable share of the newly created jobs will be reserved for women in operations, charging station management, software, customer support and mobility services.
ThunderPlus CEO Rajeev YSR said the partnership marks a pivotal stride towards making Andhra Pradesh the clean mobility capital of India, adding that the integrated approach will serve as a model other states could emulate. ETO Motors CEO Nirmal Reddy said the unified mobility system will ensure reliable, sustainable commuting for lakhs of citizens. Roqit’s leadership emphasised that its single ticketing platform will bring all transport modes into one seamless app.
Positioning Andhra Pradesh as a national frontrunner in electric mobility, the consortium will work with APEDB, municipal bodies, transport departments and industrial corridor authorities to ensure the programme’s rapid and scalable implementation.
eNews
Meta invests Rs 256.6 crore for 30 per cent stake in REIL
Ambani pledges Rs 10 lakh crore for AI over seven years
MUMBAI: Six months after incorporating its artificial intelligence arm, Reliance Enterprise Intelligence Limited (REIL), Reliance Industries Ltd has infused a cumulative Rs 853.2 crore into the venture, tightening its embrace of enterprise AI.
Of the total, Reliance Intelligence Ltd has invested Rs 596.6 crore for a 70 per cent stake. The remaining Rs 256.6 crore came from Facebook Overseas, a unit of Meta, which holds 30 per cent. With the capital in place, REIL formally becomes a subsidiary of RIL.
The investment mirrors the Rs 855 crore commitment the two groups flagged in August 2025, when they unveiled the joint venture to build and scale enterprise AI solutions across India and select overseas markets.
The plan is straightforward but ambitious. REIL will tap Meta’s open-source Llama large language models to develop agentic enterprise AI tools. RIL, for its part, will provide digital infrastructure and access to its sprawling enterprise network, turning the conglomerate into a live testing ground for deployment at scale.
“Partnering with Meta brings our vision of providing AI to every Indian and enterprise to life,” said Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, at the time of the announcement. By pairing Llama models with Reliance’s cross-industry footprint, he argued, the venture can iterate quickly and refine products in real-world conditions.
The move deepens a partnership forged in 2020, when Meta invested $5.7 billion for a 10 per cent stake in Jio Platforms, becoming its largest minority shareholder. The AI venture adds another strategic layer to that alliance.
The funding announcement follows the recently concluded India AI Impact Summit, which drew more than 500 global AI leaders, over 20 heads of state and upwards of 100 chief executives and founders. The mood was bullish, with billions of dollars discussed for domestic AI and data-centre infrastructure.
At the summit, Ambani pledged to invest Rs 10 lakh crore in AI over seven years starting 2026, calling it “patient, disciplined, nation-building capital” aimed at durable economic value rather than speculative gains.
The broader policy winds are favourable. In the Union Budget 2026-27, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman earmarked Rs 1,000 Cr for the IndiaAI Mission, alongside measures to strengthen data-centre capacity.
The prize is large. The global AI market is projected to surpass $4 trillion by 2033. India’s own AI economy could reach $126 billion by 2030 and add as much as $1.7 trillion to GDP by 2035, according to the Inc42 Bharat AI Startups Report 2026.
