31st CII Partnership Summit 2026 Opens in Visakhapatnam

The thirty-first edition of the CII Partnership Summit opened in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, as a two-day gathering of policymakers, overseas delegates, company heads and investors. Its theme is 'Navigating the New World Order: Trade | Technology | Trust | Thought Leadership'.

Who organises it

The Confederation of Indian Industry runs the Summit along with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and the Government of Andhra Pradesh is the host. Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister Konidala Pawan Kalyan attended the opening session. CII President R. Mukundan, who heads Tata Chemicals, was among the industry voices.

What is being discussed

Sessions over the two days take up world trade, global value chains, supply chains that can withstand shocks, advanced manufacturing, defence technology, critical minerals, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, green energy and future mobility, with the aim of drawing investment and marking India out as a manufacturing base.

The NICDC pavilion

Mr Goyal and the Chief Minister visited the pavilion of the National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation, where its three greenfield industrial smart city nodes in the State - Krishnapatnam, Orvakal and Kopparthy - were presented. The three together cover 7,717 acres, carry an investment potential of Rs 31,360 crore and an employment potential of two lakh. Krishnapatnam has crossed half of its construction, Orvakal stands near a third and Kopparthy at about a tenth.

Schemes and platforms shown

• BHAVYA, the Bharat Audyogik Vikas Yojana, highlighted by the Commerce Minister.
• Industrial Corridor Land Platform, which lets investors compare verified industrial land across the country.
• Koyla Shakti, a smart coal analytics dashboard, and a 360-degree virtual reality tour of corridor projects.

The Chief Minister drew attention to Orvakal Drone City and its promise for aerospace and drone making. Japan's Ambassador Keiichi Ono said 31 Japanese companies across three cities of the State have created more than 8,000 local jobs, and the NICDC chief recalled Japan's pledge to facilitate investment of ten trillion yen in India over the coming decade.