Second Kia plant in Andhra Pradesh to start production in early 2030

Kia India says its second Andhra Pradesh factory will add capacity for 2 lakh vehicles a year, with production due to start in early 2030. Kia and its suppliers will invest USD 2 billion, and about 12,000 jobs are expected.

By Telugu Scope Desk

Published November 15, 2026 · 3 min read

Front view of a red Kia Seltos SUV with a white Seltos placard on its bumper, parked on a tiled showroom floor beside a dark grey car

A second Kia plant in Andhra Pradesh is scheduled to start production in early 2030 and will add 2 lakh vehicles a year to the carmaker’s Indian manufacturing capacity, according to project details released by Kia India. The company signed a memorandum of understanding with the state government on Thursday, 12 November, at the CII Partnership Summit in Visakhapatnam.

Kia and the companies that supply it will together put USD 2 billion into the new facility, which will spread over 465 acres, including land for its suppliers. Kia India expects about 12,000 direct and indirect jobs to come from it. Like the existing factory, the new one will handle stamping, welding, painting and assembly, and it will build new combustion-engine and electric models.

When the Chief Minister’s Office announced the deal late that night, it put the investment at Rs 19,000 crore and the jobs at 12,000, and named the site as Penukonda, in Sri Sathya Sai district. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Kia India’s managing director and chief executive, Gwanggu Lee, were present at the signing. Kia’s release gives no rupee figure, and its dollar figure includes its suppliers’ spending.

Two plants, side by side

Kia’s release sets the two sites against each other in a table, listing both under Anantapur, the name the company uses for its existing factory, which itself stands at Penukonda. That plant can make 4,30,000 units a year on 945 acres shared with suppliers. Kia and its suppliers put an initial USD 2.9 billion into it, and it accounts for 24,237 direct and indirect jobs. With the second plant running, combined capacity will pass 6 lakh units, and investment across both sites will total as much as USD 5 billion.

The current line turns out the Seltos, Sonet, Syros, Carens, Carens Clavis, Carnival and Sorento, in combustion-engine, electric, CNG and hybrid versions. Lee said India was “central to Kia’s long-term growth ambitions”. The new factory, he said, would let the company answer demand faster while it brings in fresh combustion-engine and electric models.

A record month before the deal

On 1 November, 11 days before the agreement, Kia India reported the best sales month in its history. The company shipped 33,462 vehicles to dealers in October 2026, up 13.22% from 29,556 a year earlier. Its January-to-October wholesales came to 2,86,470 units, already more than the 2,80,286 it sold in the whole of 2025.

The release gives no date for the start of construction. Its table gives one date for the new plant: planned start of production, early 2030.

Representative image. A Kia Seltos, one of the models made at the company's existing Andhra Pradesh plant, at a showroom. Photo: Ganesh Mohan T / CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons (cropped)