Andhra Pradesh’s Minister for Human Resources Development, IT, Electronics & Communication, and RTG, Mr Nara Lokesh, has urged prospective businesses and investors to consider AP for their investments.

“You should 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” said the minister addressing a CII roadshow held in Mumbai today.

The minister was in the country’s financial capital wherein he held a series of high-powered investor outreach meetings in Mumbai to woo investors and businesses for the 30th CII Partnership Summit to be held in Visakhapatnam on November 14–15, 2025.

The roadshow featured extensive one-on-one meetings with top business leaders to promote Andhra Pradesh as a preferred investment destination.

These meetings were held across sectors with captains of industry representing Real Estate, Logistics, IT, advanced Manufacturing, renewable energy and others.

Trafigura India

Minister Lokesh first met with Mr Sachin Gupta, CEO of Trafigura India, a global leader in logistics and commodity trading with $243.2 billion in FY 2024–25 business. Trafigura exports coal, zinc, and aluminum through Visakhapatnam Port and recently signed a $1.4 billion LNG supply deal with Indian Oil Corporation.

The Minister invited Trafigura 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.

He also encouraged participation in power trading and renewable energy ventures.

“Andhra Pradesh is not only a major rice producer but also contributes 70% of India’s shrimp production,” the Minister highlighted.

ESR Group

Then the IT minister met representatives of ESR Group India Investments, including Mr Saadat Shah and Mr Prakrut Mehta. The global real estate investment platform has $154 billion AUM in Asia-Pacific and $1.7 billion in India, with 2.8 million sq.m. of gross floor area.

He encouraged ESR Group 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.

The Minister also invited investment in cold chain, warehouses, and container freight stations to support port-led exports. “We are developing over 1,000-acre industrial parks along Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, and Tirupati corridors,” Minister Lokesh noted.

Rustomjee Group

Minister Lokesh also met Mr Boman Irani, Chairman of Rustomjee Group, known for large-scale luxury residential and township projects across India. With 25 million sq.ft. developed and 43 million sq.ft. in pipeline, Rustomjee is a leader in gated communities.

The Minister requested the company to develop a luxury township in Visakhapatnam, leveraging the city’s rapid growth from IT companies and data center expansion.

HP Inc. 3D Printing & Electronics

Minister Lokesh also met Ipsita Das Gupta, Senior VP & MD (India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka) of HP Inc., which generated $53.6 billion globally and over Rs 17,000 crore in India in FY 2024–25.

He invited HP to revive the 3D Printing Center 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.

Minister Lokesh also encouraged investment in AI-powered computing, sustainable packaging, and localized product development, and to set up an R&D center in Vizag or Amaravati.

Blue Star

Finally, Minister Lokesh met Vir Advani, Chairman & MD of Blue Star Limited, India’s second-largest homegrown AC company with Rs 11,977 crore revenue in FY 2024–25. Blue Star already operates successfully in Sri City and is expanding with a Rs 900 crore investment.

The Minister requested Blue Star to expedite the Sri City expansion plan to achieve full capacity by 2026 and to establish its first South India R&D center in Andhra Pradesh, collaborating on data center cooling solutions under the state’s IT & GCC Policy 4.0.

Minister Lokesh also held discussions with Tata Group Chairman Mr N. Chandrasekaran and senior leaders across Tata groups.

Through these meetings, Andhra Pradesh showcased itself as a prime destination for investments.

The Mumbai roadshow sets the stage for the CII Partnership Summit 2025 in Visakhapatnam, where AP will present several projects and sector-specific incentives to attract global investors.

The CII roadshow will commence with registrations at 5.30 PM at the Taj Palace Hotel, Colaba, Mumbai.

Later the minister addressed a CII meeting composed of a distinguished set of business people wherein he highlighted the various sectors for investments into AP.

Sharing the dais with the minister were Mr. Murali Krishna Gannamani (CII AP Chair), Mr. Vir Advani (CII Western Region Deputy Chair), Mr. Rishi Kumar Bagla (CII Western Region Chair), Dr. N. Yuvaraj, IAS.

The meeting was followed by a networking dinner at The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai.