JSW Infrastructure and Logistics, an infrastructure and logistics company owned by the JSW group is building ship repair and shipyard facilities near kakinada port with an investment of about US$250 million.
Also, a third port is being planned to be built exclusively to serve KSEZ (Kakinada Special Economic Zone).
In the late 1940s (around the time of Indian Independence) there was little industry in and around Kakinada and local economy mainly comprised of agricultural and fishing industry. Six decades later, Kakinada's economy has a diverse Industrial base.
Fertilizer Industry
Kakinada is often called the "Fertilizer City" of Andhra Pradesh. The city is home to two Fertilizer companies. Nagarjuna Fertilizers is the biggest Urea manufacturer in coastal Andhra. Another company, Godavari Fertilizers, produces DAP (Di-Ammonium Phosphate).
Auto and Iron/Steel ancillary industries
There are several auto and iron/steel ancillary industries in Kakinada which include Sri Ramadas Motor Transport Limited , Sri Bhavani Castings Ltd etc.
Sugar Industry
The Murugappa Group-owned EID Parry (India) Ltd and Cargill International SA have announced their plans to enter into a joint venture to set up a port-based stand-alone sugar refinery in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh. EID Parry vice-chairman A Vellayan said the investment was estimated at Rs 325 crore. The plant was expected to be commissioned by December 2008, with an initial refining capacity of 6 lakh tonnes and ultimately 1 million tonnes. Reliance is also planning to set up a sugar mill.
Petroleum Products
There is an LPG Bottling plant set up by Shri Shakti LPG Limited Kakinada has been in the news recently after several oil companies decided to use it as a transit point for oil and gas shipments. The economic value of these investments has increased considerably after the recent gas finds by ONGC [Oil and Natural Gas Corporation], Reliance in the KG basin. ONGC is currently working on setting up a refinery in Kakinada.
Reliance Gas Transportation Infrastructure Ltd (RGTIL), is implementing a 1,440-km pipeline project from [Kakinada] to Baruch (Gujarat) to transport gas from KG Basin fields owned by Reliance.
Edible Oil Refineries
In 2002 several edible oil refineries established themselves in Kakinada and the refining capacity has touched 3000 tons per day. Kakinada port is facilitating the imports of crude palm oil, crude soyabean oil. Kakinada is having an edible oil per day refining capacity of more than 3000 MTS Major refineries are Acalmar Oils & fats limited, Ruchi In frastructure, Nikhil refineries ltd, etc.[11] By mid 2007, kakinada will have 3 to 4 biodiesel units in operation namely Universal Biofuels , Naturol biofuels. Andhra Pradesh has entered into a formal agreement with Reliance Industries for Jatropha planting. The company has selected 200 acres of land at Kakinada to grow jatropha for high quality bio-diesel fuel.
Electronics Industry
Kakianada is home to the an electronic components manufacturing company that started operations since 1977 called Andhra Electronics Ltd.
IT / ITeS Industry
Kakinada is one of the 4 tier-II cities in Andhra Pradesh where Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) had setup a facility in 2007. About 12 companies are currently operating in Kakinada and four of them were incubated in the STPI facility.
Currently, Infotech Enterprises, a Hyderabad based multinational software company has opened a facility in the STPI, Kakinada in February, 2007 with about 120 employees.
Apart from Infotech Enterprises, there are several small to mid-size software companies that operate in Kakinada which include Aaspire Technologies, ForeTell Technologies, Traceout Technologies, Nyros Technologies, 3One Technologies , Easty Solutions etc.
Avineon Inc, an US based technology company that provides geospatial and engineering services, has announced in April, 2008 that it would set up a new facility at Kakinada that can accommodate about 100 employees.
Fishing and Aqua culture Industry
There are about 28 landing centers and also a large fishing wharf in Kakinada. The area surrounding Kakinada is home to several aqua farms. There are also several units that process and export fish, shrimp and other marine products. Recognizing the importance of fishing and aquaculture industry to the local economy, Andhra Pradesh state government established a research and training center on fisheries in 1958 called APSIFT (Andhra Pradesh State Institute of Fisheries Technology) in Kakinada in cooperation with FAO. The CIFE (Central Institute of Fisheries education), a deemed university established by Indian government in 1961 has one of its three campuses in India in Kakinada. The CIFE is the first fisheries university in India and provides post-graduate education and training, to in-service fisheries personnel not only from India but also many African and Asian countries.
Rice Mills
Several Rice mills exist in and around Kakinada and some of the rice is exported to other countries.
Power Generation Industry
Spectrum Power Generation Ltd. has a 208MW Power plant at kakinada. Very soon, Kakinada poised to have a floating power plant (FPP) .Industry major GMR Energy will be taking over the prestigious 220 MW FPP at an estimated cost of Rs 600 crore. GMR will supply power to the State power grid as per the terms and conditions of the Government.
