VIJAYAWADA: On the first day of his Davos visit, Minister for HRD and IT Nara Lokesh met with international industry leaders to discuss strengthening agri-food technology and green energy partnerships.
In a meeting with Buhler Group Executive Board Advisor and Buhler India Chairman Deepak Mane, he discussed food security and processing opportunities.
He urged Buhler to set up a Food and Grain Technology Application Centre in Andhra Pradesh to help agri-export clusters with pilot trials and product localisation. He also sought collaboration in advancing millet processing technology to commercial levels, thereby boosting millet-based food industries and export-ready nutrition.
Lokesh encouraged Buhler to expand its Make-in-India optical and colour sorter manufacturing through assembly, testing, and component localisation, thereby creating jobs and promoting domestic production.
He further proposed setting up a Food Processing Skill Development Centre in Andhra Pradesh, modelled on Buhler’s Global Application & Training Centre (ATC), to train plant operators, supervisors, and engineers while supporting food parks and agri-industrial corridors.
Deepak Mane responded to the proposals by highlighting Buhler’s Bengaluru campus as South Asia’s manufacturing, engineering, and customer delivery hub, integrating services such as rice processing, biscuit production, dryers, coffee roasting, and optical sorting.
He mentioned that Buhler has regional offices in Vadodara, Hyderabad, Raipur, and Kakinada, with the Kakinada location serving as a regional sales and service hub. Mane assured that the company would positively evaluate Andhra Pradesh’s proposals.
Lokesh also met with José Mellado, the Managing Director of Evolution Synergetique Automotive SL (EVO) in Spain, to discuss potential collaboration in green hydrogen and zero-emission vehicles (ZEV). Lokesh stated that Andhra Pradesh is eager to strengthen international partnerships in these sectors, leveraging the state’s live port environment, industrial parks, and engineering sandboxes to achieve its green energy objectives.
He invited EVO to develop hydrogen terminal tractor pilot vehicles at Visakhapatnam and Kakinada ports, as well as to lead the redesign and optimisation of electric/hydrogen off-road vehicles in AP industrial parks.
Lokesh assured that the government would provide the necessary test beds and approvals, as well as support prototype development and engineer training. He added that AP would set up small engineering sandboxes on industrial or academic campuses to encourage early-stage innovation.