Premier Explosives To Set Up Rs 500-Crore Defence Unit in Nellore District

Nellore: Premier Explosives Limited (PEL), a public limited company incorporated in 1980, is set to establish a major defence explosives and raw materials manufacturing unit at Muttarasalli village in Duttalur mandal of SPSR Nellore district.

The project will be developed over about 450 acres with an investment of Rs 500 crore and implemented in three phases. It has received approvals from the State Investment Promotion Council (SIPC) and the State Investment Promotion Board (SIPB).

According to official sources, the company selected Duttalur due to its proximity to ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota and its long-standing contracts with DRDO and ISRO. The Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) reportedly offered land at less than Rs 10 lakh per acre, making the location commercially viable. Officials said the land allotment process was expedited, with surveys and processing completed within a week. The site is also close to the national highway between Kavali and Duttalur.

“We offered four location options, and the company chose land near Duttalur. The unit will provide a major boost to the backward Udayagiri constituency,” a senior official said.

Under Phase I, the company will manufacture medium-calibre ammunition, pyro devices and HTPB. Phase II will involve the filling of bombs, artillery shells and rocket motors, while Phase III will include a TNT manufacturing plant and expansion of earlier facilities.

The project is expected to generate direct employment for about 2,050 people. Phase I is scheduled for completion in 36 months, Phase II in 24 months and Phase III in 16 months.

Once operational, the unit will have an annual production capacity of four lakh medium- and large-calibre ammunition rounds, 10 lakh pyro devices, 200 tonnes of HTPB, bombs and artillery shells, and 20,000 tonnes of propellant.

The company said the project would strengthen indigenous defence production, reduce dependence on imports of critical explosives and propellants, and support DRDO- and ISRO-linked programmes, positioning Andhra Pradesh as an emerging hub for private-sector defence and aerospace manufacturing.