Andhra Pradesh’s Minister for IT, Electronics, and HRD, Nara Lokesh, painted an ambitious picture Tuesday of his state’s ascent as the world’s next-generation manufacturing powerhouse. Speaking from Amaravati, Lokesh highlighted how AP is evolving from a data center host to the global manufacturer of components that fuel digital revolutions worldwide.
The minister announced a landmark event: the groundbreaking ceremony for Carrier Global Corporation’s new chiller manufacturing plant in Sri City, scheduled for Wednesday. State officials view this as a cornerstone achievement in their industrial and digital infrastructure expansion.
‘We’re not satisfied hosting data centers – we’re building the engines that power them,’ Lokesh declared. He credited Sri City’s premier industrial ecosystem, proactive policies, and execution speed for AP’s rising global stature in advanced manufacturing and digital infrastructure.
This Carrier investment signals AP’s strategic pivot toward manufacturing critical components for the digital economy. Recent developments underscore this momentum: Google’s massive $15 billion AI data center in Visakhapatnam boasts 1 GW hyperscale capacity, marking one of India’s largest digital bets.
Reliance Industries’ proposed ₹1.6 lakh crore, 1.5 GW data center cluster joins a wave of global commitments. Collectively, these initiatives represent over ₹6 lakh crore in projects targeting nearly 6 GW capacity – eclipsing national benchmarks and rivaling top global clusters.
Lokesh’s vision encompasses job creation, technology localization, and supply chain resilience. By focusing on component manufacturing alongside data centers, Andhra Pradesh is crafting a complete digital infrastructure value chain. This holistic approach positions AP not just as India’s, but the world’s leading next-gen manufacturing destination, ready to dominate the data era.
