Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu inaugurated the  2640 MW Sembcorp Gayathri Power Complex (SGPC) being setup at an investment of Rs. 20,000 crore near Nellore. The power complex houses two 1,320MW super critical coal-fired power plants; Thermal Powertech Corporation India Ltd (TPCIL) which commenced operations in September 2015 and NCC Power Projects Ltd (NCPPL) which is expected to be fully operational by the end of this year.

Nellore now has 11 power plants generating about 15,550 MW including those from AP Genco, Meenakshi, Simhapuri, Reliance and Kineta. This is the largest capacity of energy generated in a single district. The Sembcorp Gayatri Power Complex alone can meet 40% of the daily energy demand of entire state of Andhra Pradesh.

About 10 to 11 million tonnes of coal from Krishnapatnam port travels the 7-km distance to the plant via conveyor belt and the locals often express environmental and health concerns. Sembcorp CEO Tang Kin Fei, however claims that the plant has been designed according to World Health Organisation standards with minimal emissions and also plans to build a plant to use fly ash coming from the plant to make light weight concrete components and eventually concrete panels and modular housing.