Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh is betting big on artificial intelligence, hyperscale data centres and advanced manufacturing to drive its next phase of growth, with IT and HRD minister Nara Lokesh declaring that the state aims to become India's leading AI destination while creating two million jobs over the next five years.
Speaking at the India 2026 Conference organised by Bank of America in Mumbai, Lokesh said Andhra Pradesh's transformation is being driven by three factors- Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's leadership, the state's "speed of doing business," and what he described as a "double-engine bullet train government" backed by the Centre.
Lokesh said Andhra Pradesh is building a multi-gigawatt digital ecosystem anchored by Visakhapatnam, which is emerging as a major AI and data centre hub. The state has set a target of creating 6.5 gigawatts of digital infrastructure, with projects such as the Google AI Data Centre, Reliance AI facilities and other hyperscale investments already underway. "Within 13 months, we were able to bring the Google data centre project to Andhra Pradesh. Speed, simplification and stability are the principles driving our investment strategy," he said. Highlighting the state's industrial ambitions, Lokesh said Andhra Pradesh is developing 22 specialised clusters across three economic regions, covering sectors ranging from data centres, defence and semiconductors to pharmaceuticals, space technology, glass manufacturing and green energy.
He said Amaravati is being developed as a world-class greenfield capital city, while Visakhapatnam is positioned as the state's digital and industrial growth engine. The Minister also defended the expansion of data centres, arguing that concerns over water consumption were misplaced. He noted that the proposed 6.5 GW data centre ecosystem would require only a fraction of the water consumed by conventional thermal power plants. Lokesh said the government is integrating education with emerging technologies such as AI, machine learning and quantum computing to prepare future generations not merely as job seekers but as job creators.