I will describe ANDES (ArmazoNes high Dispersion Echelle Spectrograph) the optical-infrared High Resolution Spectrograph of the ELT, formerly known as ELT-HIRES, which has started construction activities in 2022 to arrive at the telescope as early as 2031. The project is carried out by an international consortium composed of 33 institutes from 13 countries. I will present an overview of the project, describing science cases and the baseline design. The top science cases will be the detection of life signatures from exoplanet atmospheres, tests on the stability of Nature’s fundamental couplings, and the direct detection of the cosmic acceleration. However, the science requirements of these science cases will enable many other ground-breaking ones. The baseline design, which allows to fulfil the top science cases, consists of a modular fibre-fed cross-dispersed echelle spectrograph providing a simultaneous range of 0.4-1.8 µm with a goal of 0.35-2.4 µm, at a resolution of 100,000 and with several observing modes. The spectrograph will be equipped with both seeing- and diffraction-limited observing modes, the latter being characterised by a unique high resolution IFU, capable of a simultaneous wavelength coverage of 1-1.8 µm. Finally, I will conclude by presenting the involvement of the INAF community in the project, its future development and the path to construction.