Nara Lokesh pitches AP to Gujarat investors

Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh stepped up its investor outreach in Gujarat on Friday, with Minister for HRD, IT and Electronics Nara Lokesh holding a series of meetings with industrial groups and pharmaceutical companies in Ahmedabad and pitching investment opportunities across pharma, data centres, manufacturing, renewable energy and logistics.

The meetings were held as part of the state's preparations for the CII Partnership Summit-2026 and were aimed at converting investor interest into projects in Andhra Pradesh. The Minister held discussions with senior representatives of Welspun World, Gokul Agro Resources, Chiripal Group, ST Telemedia, Epack Group, Astral Pipes, Emcure Pharmaceuticals and Visakha Group.

At a pharma-sector roundtable organised by the AP Economic Development Board (APEDB), Lokesh invited companies to invest in the Bulk Drug Park at Nakkapalli in Anakapalli district. He said Andhra Pradesh was positioning itself as an integrated pharmaceutical hub with manufacturing, exports, R&D infrastructure and skilled manpower.

The state has completed the first phase of the 2,000-acre Nakkapalli Bulk Drug Park, which is being promoted on the basis of land availability, port connectivity, lower operating costs, an established pharma ecosystem and government incentives. The government is also developing pharma clusters across Anakapalli, Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam, Nellore and Vizianagaram.

Lokesh also invited Emcure Pharmaceuticals to establish a biosimilars facility at Nakkapalli and explore API and fermentation-based bulk-drug manufacturing. Emcure global president (technical operations) Deepak Gondaliya said the company would examine the proposals.

In the meeting with Welspun World CEO Nitin Jain, the Minister sought a Global Capability Centre (GCC) in Visakhapatnam and a Welspun Industrial Park in Kakinada, with potential units in textiles, logistics, DI pipes, pipe coating and green ammonia. Jain said the group already operates a 100 MW solar project in Kurnool and Kadapa and supplies pipes for the Kakinada-Srikakulam gas pipeline and Reliance KG-D6 project. He said the proposals would be examined. Lokesh asked Gokul Agro Resources to consider expanding its Nellore operations by establishing a palm oil and soybean oil refinery. The company already operates a 1,400-tonne-per-day edible oil refinery at Krishnapatnam, which began commercial operations in 2024. Chairman Kanubhai J. Thakkar said the company's expansion plans for southern markets were under consideration.

The Minister also pitched a greenfield tyre manufacturing project in Visakhapatnam to Chiripal Group and sought a data-centre investment from ST Telemedia in the city. ST Telemedia currently operates data centres with a combined capacity of 400 MW across 10 cities and serves more than 1,000 customers, including Microsoft and Cisco.

Discussions with Epack Group focused on establishing a pre-fabricated construction centre for data centres in Visakhapatnam. Epack Durables already operates prefab PEB and insulated sandwich-panel manufacturing facilities at Mambattu near Sri City, with its Phase-II facility commencing commercial production in April 2026.

Lokesh invited Astral Pipes to establish a pipe manufacturing unit in Kakinada or Anakapalli, citing the state's expanding construction activity and offering expedited approvals and investment incentives. The Minister also sought investments from Visakha Group in solar-module manufacturing and flexible packaging. He suggested Nellore, Tirupati, Visakhapatnam and Anakapalli for the packaging facility, citing proximity to airports and seaports.

The investor meetings form part of Andhra Pradesh's wider mobilisation campaign ahead of the CII Partnership Summit, with the government seeking to leverage its ports, industrial land, infrastructure, policy incentives and emerging sectoral clusters to attract fresh investments.

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