AP Minerals, Industries, SEZs and Ports Notes for APPSC & SI

This topic is easiest to learn as a chain rather than a list of places. A mineral occurs somewhere, a resource estimate is made, a lease allows a mine, ore is extracted, a factory processes it and a port may ship the product. Each link has its own evidence, and exam options often promote a proposal by two or three links with a single optimistic verb. These notes teach the stable place-product pairs, the stage words and the dated figures you need for APPSC and AP Police papers. Figures come from the Indian Bureau of Mines (Ministry of Mines) yearbook, the AP Socio-Economic Survey 2024-25 and the Department of Commerce list of operational SEZs, and each is labelled with its year.

The full volume is AP Minerals, Industries, SEZs and Ports, which adds locator maps and explained practice sets. For the coastal geography behind the ports, read AP geography: rivers, districts and ports. The Telugu version of this article is ఆంధ్రప్రదేశ్ ఖనిజాలు, పరిశ్రమలు, SEZలు, ఓడరేవుల నోట్స్.

Check dates: SEZ lists, port cargo tables, greenfield port status and investment announcements change. Use the pairs here as anchors and confirm anything dated from the current official source.

1. The chain: from occurrence to shipment

Write a card for each case with six fields: material or industry, present place, older place label, stage of activity, relevant authority and date. The stage prevents "proposed refinery" from turning into "operating refinery" in your head. The six stages worth separating are exploration, resource estimate, lease and clearances, mine and extraction, processing factory and port shipment.

Two definitions recur:

• Resource: mineral material identified under geological categories, which may be measured, indicated, inferred or only at reconnaissance level.
• Reserve: the economically mineable subset of a resource.
• Production: the quantity actually extracted in a dated period.

Swapping a resource percentage for a production share gives a plausible but false fact. A mineral can occur in a district without an active mine, and a mine can hold a lease without producing in a given year.

2. Resource versus reserve: a worked example

The Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) state review of Andhra Pradesh in Indian Minerals Yearbook 2021 (advance release of July 2023) gives a table of reserves and resources as on 1 April 2020. Read two rows to see the difference.

Mineral (as on 1.4.2020)	Reserves	Total resources (reserves plus remaining)
Limestone	32,56,690 thousand tonnes	2,98,38,822 thousand tonnes
Haematite iron ore	44,744 thousand tonnes	3,95,616 thousand tonnes
Manganese ore	8,088 thousand tonnes	29,844 thousand tonnes
Bauxite	none shown as reserve	6,15,267 thousand tonnes

Divide limestone reserves by total resources: 32,56,690 divided by 2,98,38,822 is about 0.109, so only about 11 per cent of the limestone resource is classed as reserve. For haematite the reserve share is about 11 per cent as well (44,744 divided by 3,95,616), and for manganese ore it is about 27 per cent. For bauxite the table shows resources only, with no reserve class, so "AP has 615 million tonnes of bauxite reserves" would be wrong while "about 615 million tonnes of bauxite resources" is right. This is the single most useful distinction in the mineral chapter. The Yearbook figures are for 1 April 2020 and are updated in later editions, so quote them with that date.

3. Minerals, uses and national shares

The IBM state review says Andhra Pradesh is the sole producer of apatite and a leading producer of barytes, ball clay, dolomite, garnet (abrasive), laterite, limestone, quartz, quartzite, silica sand and vermiculite. It lists AP's share of national resources as: barytes 92 per cent, calcite 40 per cent, mica 41 per cent, kyanite and garnet 31 per cent each, titanium minerals 19 per cent, bauxite 16 per cent, dolomite 15 per cent, sillimanite 13 per cent, and vermiculite and limestone 12 per cent each. These are shares of resources, not production, and they refer to the Yearbook's date. Group the minerals by use, which is more reliable than memorising ranks.

Mineral	Use / product	Place association (Yearbook and Survey, older district names)
Barytes (barium sulphate)	Weighting material in drilling fluids; barium chemicals	Mangampeta; also Anantapur, Cuddapah, Krishna, Kurnool, Nellore, Prakasam
Limestone	Cement (limestone, then clinker, then cement)	Guntur, Cuddapah, Kurnool and other districts in the Yearbook list
Granite	Dimension stone: slabs, tiles, monuments	Chimakurthy Black Galaxy (Prakasam)
Bauxite	Aluminium ore	East Godavari and Visakhapatnam (Eastern Ghats)
Iron ore (haematite, magnetite)	Steel	Anantapur, Cuddapah, Guntur, Krishna, Kurnool, Nellore; magnetite in Prakasam
Manganese ore	Steel alloy	Srikakulam and Vizianagaram
Mica	Electrical and industrial uses	Nellore and Visakhapatnam
Copper, zinc, silver	Metals	Agnigundala and Bondalamottu, listed under Guntur in the Survey
Uranium	Nuclear mineral	Tummalapalle, YSR Kadapa district
Quartz, silica sand	Glass, foundry, ceramics	Many districts

Further points:

• Mangampeta: the barytes deposit is in Obulavaripalle mandal. Older material places it in YSR Kadapa district, later material in Annamayya district. After the district reorganisation effective 31 December 2025, Obulavaripalle mandal is reported to be in Tirupati district. The mineral did not move; the administrative label did. Spellings vary: Mangampet, Mangampeta, Cuddapah, Kadapa. The deposit has been declared a National Geological Monument by the Geological Survey of India according to reference sources, and the Survey's export list shows barites lumps and powder under Annamayya district and barium chemicals under YSR Kadapa.
• Barytes carries a dominant share of national resources in the state (92 per cent in the Yearbook), but an exact global rank needs a precise source and category.
• Coastal sands can contain garnet and titanium-bearing minerals, but that is a resource fact, not a permission to mine any beach.
• Krishna-Godavari basin: a geological region associated with oil and natural gas, onshore and offshore. KG stands for Krishna-Godavari, not Krishna-Pennar. The Survey also lists crude oil and natural gas among the state's mineral resources.
• Granite varieties named in the Survey include Chimakurthy Black Galaxy, Steel Grey, Ocean Blue and Black Pearl (Prakasam), Srikakulam Blue (Srikakulam), Vizianagaram Green (Vizianagaram), River White, Kashmir White and Moon White (Visakhapatnam), Pista Green (YSR Kadapa), Chilli Red (Ananthapuramu) and Chocolate Brown (Kurnool). Treat the variety-to-district pairing as a memory table with the older district names.

4. Mining administration and revenue

The Survey calls minerals a key source of revenue, using the phrase "Ratna Garbha" (womb of gems) for the state. The Department of Mines and Geology processes concession applications, grants leases, approves mine plans, inspects mines and acts against illegal mining. As of the Survey's data there were 174 mining leases for major minerals and 3,831 quarry leases for minor minerals. Mineral revenue in recent years, in rupees crore:

Year	Major minerals	Minor minerals	Sand	Total
2021-22	797	2,060	590	3,447
2022-23	874	2,152	451	3,477
2023-24	1,011	2,163	251	3,425
2024-25 (up to 10 January 2025)	737	1,294	0	2,031

Notice that the 2024-25 row is a part-year figure, so it must not be compared with a full year. Notice also that in each year minor minerals brought in more than major minerals. The Survey's action plan for 2025-26 includes preparing a state mining policy, exploration funding through the National Mineral Exploration Trust, a 2 per cent fee on minor mineral leaseholders for the Mineral Exploration Research and Innovation Trust, and an annual auction programme for 56 major mineral blocks (limestone 23, manganese 15, iron ore 13, diamond 2, lead and zinc 2, copper 1). Under the District Mineral Foundation, the Survey reports Rs 2,138 crore collected and Rs 2,075 crore sanctioned for over 20,678 projects. A plan, an auction programme and a sanction are different stages; none of them proves that a mine has started.

Mining and quarrying contributes about 2 per cent of GVA in the Survey's sub-sector chart, so a large mineral resource does not make mining a large part of the economy. For the economy side see AP economy and budget notes; PRS shows non-tax revenue from mining of about Rs 5,196 crore in the 2026-27 budget estimate.

5. Industries by centre

• Visakhapatnam: the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant of RINL (a Government of India company, described as the first shore-based integrated steel plant, with installed capacity of 7.3 million tonnes of liquid steel per annum per a Wikipedia cross-check of RINL's description), Hindustan Shipyard (founded as Scindia Shipyard in 1941, now under the Ministry of Defence), the HPCL Visakh refinery and the major port. A shipyard builds, a refinery processes and a port loads or unloads. These are separate institutions.
• HPCL Visakh refinery: reports describe a modernisation project that raises refining capacity from 8.33 million tonnes per annum to 15 million tonnes per annum at a cost of about Rs 31,407 crore, with a residue upgradation facility of 3.55 million tonnes per annum reported as commissioned in January 2026. Treat the capacity as a reported figure and check the company release.
• Anakapalli (Nakkapalli mandal): AM/NS India laid the foundation stone for an integrated steel plant on 23 March 2026 at Rajayyapeta; reports describe a two-phase project with a very large investment and a captive port. A foundation stone is the start of construction, not an operating plant, and reported capacities vary by phase.
• Kakinada: the Survey's export list shows frozen shrimp, cashew kernels and non-basmati rice among district products. A farm product plant transforms farm output; a fertiliser plant makes a farm input.
• Apparel and textiles: Brandix India Apparel City in the Atchutapuram area is in the official SEZ list as a textile SEZ. Textile and apparel is its sector, not steel or port administration.
• Pharmaceuticals: the SEZ list shows several pharmaceutical SEZs in the Visakhapatnam region and one in Srikakulam district.
• IT/ITES: the SEZ list shows APIIC IT SEZs at Madhurawada (Visakhapatnam) and Sarpavaram (Kakinada), and others such as Wipro in Visakhapatnam.
• Food processing and agro: see the agriculture notes for the farm side. A policy that names opportunities is not a count of finished factories.

The Survey says the manufacturing sector contributes roughly 11 per cent of GSDP. It reports that the State Investment Promotion Board approved eight large and mega projects in 2024-25 with committed investment of Rs 2,45,275 crore, expected to create 65,541 jobs, and that APIIC allotments between 1 January and 31 December 2024 covered 816 units with an employment potential of 79,261 and proposed investment of Rs 81,062 crore. "Committed" and "proposed" are promises. The same document describes three industrial corridors: Visakhapatnam-Chennai (nodes at Visakhapatnam, Chittoor and Kopparthy), Chennai-Bangalore (Krishnapatnam North node, 10,834 acres) and Hyderabad-Bangalore (Orvakal node, 2,621 acres).

Andhra Pradesh issued Industrial Development Policy 4.0 for 2024-29 through G.O. Ms. No. 68 dated 26 October 2024. Treat the policy as a stable fact and any investment or job claim as needing an implementation report.

6. SEZs: notified, operational, proposed

A Special Economic Zone is a legally notified area under the central framework. Notified and operational are not the same: notification can come before any unit exports, and land can later be de-notified. APIIC (the state infrastructure corporation) develops parks and keeps an inventory; the central Department of Commerce publishes the legal and operational lists. The Department's list of operational SEZs (up to 31 March 2024) shows 25 operational SEZs in Andhra Pradesh.

SEZ / complex	Sector in the official list	District wording trap
Visakhapatnam SEZ	Multi-product	Listed first in the official list for the state
Sri City Private Limited	Multi-product	Villages at Satyavedu and Varadaiahpalem mandals; older records say Chittoor, now Tirupati district
APIIC, Atchutapuram and Rambilli	Multi-product	Older list says Visakhapatnam; now in the Anakapalli region
Brandix India Apparel City	Textile	Same older-label issue
Kakinada SEZ Limited	Multi-product	Original notices refer to former East Godavari
Divi's Laboratories, Hetero, Visakha Pharmacity, Dr. Reddy's, Deccan Fine Chemicals	Pharmaceuticals and chemicals	Spread over Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam
APIIC Naidupeta and Pellakuru	Multi-product	Listed under Tirupati (erstwhile Nellore)
Mas Fabric Park, Apache SEZ, Bhartiya International	Textile, footwear, leather	Nellore region
Anrak Aluminium	Alumina and aluminium refining	Makavarapalem mandal, Visakhapatnam region

A park is generic infrastructure; an SEZ has a specific legal notification. A multi-product SEZ does not mean the whole district is an SEZ. The legal record may keep an old district name, and that is an administrative vintage, not an error. District wording matters more than ever after the reorganisation effective 31 December 2025, in which the Cabinet approved two new districts, Polavaram and Markapuram, taking the state to 28 districts.

7. Ports: category, order and status

"Major" and "non-major" describe legal governance, not size. The Survey says Andhra Pradesh has one major port, Visakhapatnam, under the Government of India, and 16 notified ports under the state government. It gives the coastline as about 974 km in its profile section and about 1,053.07 km in its ports section, so check which figure a question wants and cite the source. Visakhapatnam Port Authority handled a record 91.17 million tonnes in 2025-26, a rise of 10.34 per cent, according to an All India Radio report of May 2026, which implies about 82.6 million tonnes in 2024-25.

The Survey's table for operational state ports shows cargo handled in 2024-25 up to November 2024 against full-year targets.

Port	Cargo up to Nov 2024 (million tonnes)	Target 2024-25 (million tonnes)	Notes in the Survey
Krishnapatnam	37.786	50.50	PPP concession (BOST) signed 2004; operations from 2009; 11 berths in operation
Gangavaram	16.201	36.00	PPP concession (BOOT) signed 2003; capacity 64 million tonnes; operations from 2009
Kakinada Deep Water	11.15	17.62	PPP concession; 7 berths in operation
Kakinada Anchorage	2.326	4.00	Run by the state; capacity about 4 million tonnes
Rawa	0.443	2.00	Single buoy mooring for crude oil near Surasenayanam

Two points follow. Krishnapatnam shows the highest cargo among the state ports in this table for the period shown, which is a dated statement, not a permanent title. Gangavaram is near Visakhapatnam but is a separate non-major port; proximity does not merge operators or statistics. Kakinada Anchorage and Kakinada Deep Water are separate entries.

Greenfield and proposed ports in the Survey (data to November 2024) are Kakinada SEZ Gateway Port (SPV GMR Kakinada Gateway Port Limited, expected 16 million tonnes capacity), Machilipatnam (landlord model, phase 1 capacity 35 million tonnes), Mulapeta (formerly Bhavanapadu, 23.5 million tonnes) and Ramayapatnam (34.04 million tonnes per annum in phase 1). The Survey also records the Vodarevu and Nizampatnam port proposals as on hold, and fishing harbour projects. Do not confuse Krishnapatnam with Ramayapatnam. Reports in July 2026 describe state approval of about Rs 1,638 crore to acquire 6,248.54 acres for phase II expansion of the three Maritime Board ports; their 2026 operating status should come from a fresh Maritime Board notice, not from this post.

Coast order from north to south: Mulapeta project area, Visakhapatnam with nearby Gangavaram, Kakinada, Machilipatnam project area, Ramayapatnam and Krishnapatnam. Cargo figures count goods handled in a year, often in million tonnes, and may include imported coal or raw material, so a cargo heading does not prove that the goods were mined in AP. Designed capacity and actual throughput are different quantities, and a "port proximal area" in policy is not an operating SEZ.

Key facts for exams

• AP share of national resources (IBM Yearbook 2021, as on 1.4.2020): barytes 92%, mica 41%, calcite 40%, kyanite and garnet 31% each, bauxite 16%, limestone 12%.
• Reserve is the mineable subset of a resource; bauxite appears as a resource without a reserve class in the table.
• Mineral revenue 2023-24: Rs 3,425 crore (major 1,011, minor 2,163, sand 251), per the Survey.
• 25 operational SEZs in AP as per the Department of Commerce list up to 31 March 2024.
• Visakhapatnam is the only major port; 16 notified state ports.
• Krishnapatnam handled the most cargo among state ports up to November 2024 (37.786 million tonnes).
• Industrial Development Policy 4.0 (2024-29): G.O. Ms. No. 68, 26 October 2024.
• 28 districts from 31 December 2025.

Common exam traps

1. Treating a resource percentage as production.
2. Treating resources as reserves.
3. Placing Mangampeta in a district without checking the date; the mandal is Obulavaripalle.
4. Calling a steel plant an iron-ore deposit.
5. Treating "non-major port" as "small port", or Gangavaram as a major port.
6. Merging Kakinada Anchorage and Kakinada Deep Water into one entry.
7. Reading a notified SEZ as an operational one.
8. Confusing Krishnapatnam with Ramayapatnam.
9. Reading an investment announcement, a foundation stone or an auction programme as a working plant or mine.
10. Comparing a part-year revenue figure with a full year.

How to revise this in 7 days

• Day 1: The chain, and resource versus reserve versus production; redo the limestone calculation.
• Day 2: Mineral and use pairs; the IBM shares; Mangampeta, Chimakurthy, limestone and cement.
• Day 3: Mineral revenue table, leases and the District Mineral Foundation.
• Day 4: Visakhapatnam and Anakapalli industries; the shipyard, refinery, steel plant and port distinction.
• Day 5: SEZ vocabulary and the official list rows.
• Day 6: Port categories, the cargo table and coast order.
• Day 7: Redraw the coast and inland map blank, then take a timed set from the mock test page.

Ten practice MCQs

1. Which mineral accounts for about 92 per cent of India's resources in Andhra Pradesh per the IBM Yearbook 2021? a) Mica b) Barytes c) Bauxite d) Limestone Answer: b.

2. In a mineral chapter, "reserve" means: a) all the mineral identified b) the economically mineable subset c) the amount produced in a year d) the amount exported Answer: b.

3. In the limestone to cement chain, the intermediate product is: a) Gypsum b) Clinker c) Slag d) Fly ash Answer: b.

4. Which granite trade name is linked to Chimakurthy in Prakasam? a) Black Galaxy b) Pista Green c) Chilli Red d) Srikakulam Blue Answer: a.

5. Which is AP's only major port under the Government of India? a) Kakinada b) Gangavaram c) Krishnapatnam d) Visakhapatnam Answer: d.

6. Among the state ports, which handled the most cargo up to November 2024 per the Survey? a) Krishnapatnam b) Gangavaram c) Kakinada Deep Water d) Rawa Answer: a. 37.786 million tonnes.

7. A "notified" SEZ is: a) always operational b) a legally notified area that may not yet be operational c) a state industrial park d) a port Answer: b.

8. Which SEZ in the official operational list is described as textile (apparel)? a) Brandix India Apparel City b) Anrak Aluminium c) Divi's Laboratories d) Wipro Answer: a.

9. Industrial Development Policy 4.0 (2024-29) was issued through: a) G.O. Ms. No. 68 of 26 October 2024 b) the Reorganisation Act 2014 c) the 2011 census d) the 16th Finance Commission Answer: a.

10. Which pair is correctly matched? a) Ramayapatnam: Kakinada b) Mulapeta: formerly Bhavanapadu c) Machilipatnam: Srikakulam d) Krishnapatnam: Visakhapatnam Answer: b.

Frequently asked questions

Is Visakhapatnam the largest port by cargo in AP? Do not assume. "Major" is a legal category. Compare cargo tables of the same year and source.

Are SEZ and industrial park the same? No. An SEZ has a specific legal notification under the central framework; a park is infrastructure developed by APIIC or a private developer.

Does a mineral resource mean a mine exists? No. A resource is an estimate; a mine needs a lease, clearances and extraction.

Why do older books place Sri City in Chittoor? They use the district boundaries of their time; the official SEZ list records the mandals and notes Tirupati.

Which Mangampeta fact should I memorise? Barytes, in Obulavaripalle mandal, with the district label depending on the date.

How many districts should I write now? Twenty-eight, effective 31 December 2025.

Can I quote the investment numbers from news? Quote them only as announced or reported figures with a date. An investment announcement is not an operating plant.

Related reading

• AP geography: rivers, districts and ports
• AP economy and budget notes
• AP agriculture, irrigation and crops notes
• AP rivers, dams and irrigation projects
• AP district-wise fact sheet
• Andhra Pradesh government exams 2026
• AP Reorganisation Act 2014 explained
• Andhra Pradesh hub

Practise on pareeksha.in

Test the pairs and stage words under time pressure. Pareeksha.in offers 10 Lakh+ MCQs, 100+ Exams and 5,000+ Full-Length Mocks, so a mock test can show where the chain, the SEZ vocabulary or the port categories still trip you, and the full minerals, industries, SEZs and ports book provides the maps.

Sources and verification

Pages opened and used for this article:

• Indian Minerals Yearbook 2021, State Reviews: Andhra Pradesh (Indian Bureau of Mines, Ministry of Mines, July 2023): mineral shares, reserves and resources as on 1.4.2020.
• AP Socio-Economic Survey 2024-25, Planning Department (apfinance.gov.in): mines and geology, mineral revenue, industries, corridors, ports and fishing harbours.
• List of State-wise Operational SEZs up to 31.03.2024, Department of Commerce (sezindia.gov.in).
• AP Budget Analysis 2026-27, PRS Legislative Research: mining non-tax revenue.
• All India Radio (newsonair.gov.in) reports on Visakhapatnam Port's 2025-26 cargo and on the AM/NS foundation stone; Indian Infrastructure (July 2026) on land for phase II of the greenfield ports; The News Minute on the district reorganisation; NewKerala report on the HPCL residue upgradation facility; Wikipedia pages on Obulavaripalle, RINL and Hindustan Shipyard as cross-checks only.

Not verified in this session: the exact Mangampeta mandal and district wording from an official government page (taken from reference sources and news; check the gazette for the district boundary); the National Geological Monument status from a Geological Survey of India page; 2025-26 cargo for non-major ports; the AM/NS capacity figures (reports vary by phase); the Industrial Development Policy 4.0 document text (the G.O. number and date come from a search summary, check the policy PDF); Survey table 6.4 counts of APIIC parks; the BPCL Ramayapatnam refinery plan (not included); and the original IBM Yearbook edition for later years. Check the latest official notification for anything dated.