Lokesh woos investments in clean energy, manufacturing and data centres

HRD and IT Minister Nara Lokesh held a series of meetings with senior executives of leading industrial groups in Ahmedabad on Friday and invited them to set up manufacturing, clean-energy, data centre and infrastructure projects in Andhra Pradesh.

Mr. Lokesh met Torrent Group chairman Samir Mehta and invited the group to explore renewable energy projects, pumped-storage facilities and green hydrogen initiatives in the State. He also sought expansion of API and advanced-intermediate manufacturing capacities in Andhra Pradesh’s pharmaceutical clusters.

Mr. Mehta said Torrent Power was developing 3.96 GW of renewable energy projects and 3 GW of pumped-hydro storage capacity and was exploring green hydrogen and other clean-energy projects. The company was targeting 10 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030, he said.

During his meeting with Welspun World (India) Group CEO Nitin Jain, Mr. Lokesh invited the company to establish a global capability centre in Visakhapatnam and a multi-sector industrial park in Kakinada, comprising textile, logistics, DI pipe manufacturing, pipe coating and green ammonia units. Mr. Jain said the company was already operating 100 MW of solar projects in Kurnool and Kadapa and supplying pipes for the Kakinada-Srikakulam gas pipeline and Reliance KG-D6 project.

Edible oil refineries

Mr. Lokesh also sought the setting up of palm oil and soybean oil refineries in Nellore during his meeting with Gokul Agro Resources Chairman and Managing Director Kanubhai J. Thakkar. The company currently operates a 1,400-tonne-per-day edible oil refinery at Krishnapatnam, which commenced commercial operations in 2024.

Chiripal Group Managing Director Brij Mohan Chiripal was invited to establish a greenfield tyre manufacturing project in Visakhapatnam. The group, which has manufacturing units in several States, exports textiles, packaging films, solar products and chemicals to more than 52 countries.

Mr. Lokesh invited ST Telemedia Global Data Centres to invest in Visakhapatnam, which the State government is positioning as a data centre hub. ST Telemedia Vice-President (Strategy and Sustainability) Gautam Jena said the company operated data centres with a combined capacity of 400 MW across 10 major cities.

Prefabricated building-components

In another meeting, Mr. Lokesh invited Epack Group Chairman Bhajrang Bothra to establish a prefabricated construction facility in Visakhapatnam to cater to the requirements of data centre projects. Mr. Bothra said the group already operated manufacturing and prefabricated building-component facilities at Sri City and Mambattu.

Mr. Lokesh also invited Astral Pipes Vice-President (Corporate Affairs) Alkesh Panchal to establish a pipe manufacturing facility in Kakinada or Anakapalli. He assured the company of speedy clearances and incentives. Mr. Panchal said Astral Pipes had 13 plumbing plants across several States and would examine the Andhra Pradesh Government’s proposal.