Amaravati, May 5 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh is positioning itself as a global hub for next-generation manufacturing and digital infrastructure, said state minister Nara Lokesh on Tuesday.

He stated that Andhra Pradesh is moving beyond hosting data centres to manufacturing the components that power the global data boom.

The minister announced that a foundation stone will be laid on Wednesday for a new chiller manufacturing facility at Sri City.

The state government sees this as a significant milestone in its industrial and digital infrastructure journey.

“With world-class industrial ecosystems like Sri City, strong policy support, and our unwavering focus on speed and scale, Andhra Pradesh is positioning itself as a global hub for next-generation manufacturing and digital infrastructure,” said Lokesh, the minister for information technology, electronics & communications and human resources development.

“Andhra Pradesh is not content with being just a host for data centres – we are determined to become the engine that powers them. The groundbreaking of Carrier Global Corporation’s facility at Sri City marks a defining moment in our journey to build a full-stack data infrastructure ecosystem – from energy and data centres to the manufacturing of the components that sustain them,” he said in a statement.

According to an official release, the investment by Carrier represents Andhra Pradesh’s strategic pivot from being a destination for data centres to becoming a global hub for manufacturing the critical components that power the digital economy.

Andhra Pradesh is rapidly emerging as one of India’s most significant data centre destinations, anchored by large-scale global investments and a forward-looking policy framework.

In recent weeks alone, a landmark $15 billion Google AI data centre hub—one of the largest digital infrastructure investments in India—has broken ground in Visakhapatnam, with a planned 1 GW hyperscale capacity .

This is complemented by proposals such as Reliance Industries’ ₹1.6 lakh crore 1.5 GW data centre cluster, alongside multiple commitments from global and domestic players. With an overall pipeline estimated at over ₹6 lakh crore and a targeted capacity of ~6 GW, Andhra Pradesh is positioning itself well ahead of the current national capacity, building a scale that few regions globally can match, said the release.

“This momentum, backed by progressive policies such as dedicated power frameworks for data centres, is transforming the state – particularly Visakhapatnam – into a premier hub for AI, cloud, and digital infrastructure. Carrier’s entry further strengthens this ecosystem – bringing advanced cooling technologies that are indispensable for next-generation data centres, AI infrastructure, and high-performance computing environments,” it said.

The state is focussing on building a complete value chain – from data centre infrastructure to component manufacturing, including cooling and thermal management systems; power and energy management solutions; precision engineering components and electronics and control systems

By integrating manufacturing with digital infrastructure, Andhra Pradesh aims to create a self-sustaining ecosystem that reduces import dependency, boosts exports, and positions India as a global leader in data infrastructure manufacturing, the government said.

Sri City’s evolution into a major HVAC and electronics hub makes it central to this strategy. With ₹12,000 crore invested in cooling and AC manufacturing, 25,000 direct jobs created in the segment, a strong supplier base contributing ₹4,600 crore in investments, the state eyes 60 per cent share in India’s AC production by 2027.

–IANS

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