Key Points

Speaking at the CII roadshow in Mumbai, Lokesh urged the investors to choose Andhra Pradesh to invest over other states in India.

"We love competition. Competitive federalism is very important for our nation, it makes us stronger and more alert," he said.

According to a statement from the minister's office, he described Visakhapatnam as a blend of Bengaluru's innovation and Goa's charm.

Minister Lokesh said the state is building a "trillion-dollar economic corridor" and emphasised the growth of Amaravati, calling it "a greenfield capital city being developed with the same spirit as Cyberabad."

He announced that South Asia's first 158-qubit quantum computer would be established in Amaravati, saying, "We're building an entire ecosystem around it; it's an exciting time for innovation and technology."

On Andhra Pradesh's industrial focus, Minister Lokesh said, "We're not limiting ourselves to one sector. With our long coastline and diverse geography, we're pushing for decentralised development across sectors."

The roadshow featured intensive one-on-one meetings with top executives across diverse sectors, including ports and logistics, industrial infrastructure, real estate, electronics, renewable energy, and advanced manufacturing.

The discussions focused on attracting strategic investments to Andhra Pradesh, showcasing the state's investor-friendly policies, shovel-ready projects, and opportunities for collaboration in emerging and high-growth industries.

Minister Lokesh invited a private firm to invest in cold storage and export infrastructure, explore commodity trading desks at Vizag, and establish an LNG regasification terminal at Kakinada or Vizag to support gas-based power.

The IT Minister met representatives of another group and encouraged them to partner with APIIC in developing mega industrial parks under the Plug & Play Industrial Parks Policy 4.0, and to set up 3-5 large logistics parks near AP ports, including multimodal hubs at Vizag and Kakinada.

Minister Lokesh also met the chairman of another group, known for large-scale luxury residential and township projects across India. The Minister requested the company to develop a luxury township in Visakhapatnam, leveraging the city's rapid growth from IT companies and data centre expansion.

Minister Lokesh also met with another firm's officials and invited the company to revive the 3D Printing Centre of Excellence in Andhra Pradesh, establish a PC, laptop, and workstation manufacturing unit, develop PC component parks in Tirupati, and bring supply chain partners such as Foxconn, Quanta, and Inventec to AP.

- IANS