VIJAYAWADA: Minister for HRD and IT Nara Lokesh has said that Andhra Pradesh is positioning itself as a trusted long-term partner in the emerging global nuclear economy, as rising AI-driven electricity demand and industrial decarbonisation reshape global energy strategies.
Speaking at the ‘U.S. Executive Nuclear Mission to India’ summit held in New Delhi, jointly organised by the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) and the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), Lokesh said Andhra Pradesh sees significant opportunities across nuclear manufacturing, engineering ecosystems, industrial supply chains, advanced energy infrastructure, and next-generation clean technology partn erships.
The event brought together senior U.S. nuclear industry executives, policymakers, and strategic stakeholders. Nivedita Mehra, Managing Director of USISPF, welcomed delegates, while Maria Korsnick, President and CEO of NEI, participated in the summit.
“Global energy systems are entering a structural transition driven by AI compute growth, industrial electrification, energy security concerns, and decarbonisation commitments.
Andhra Pradesh intends to play a meaningful role in that transition,” Lokesh said.
Lokesh reiterated that AP’s Integrated Clean Energy Policy targets nearly Rs 10 lakh crore in investments across renewables, storage, green hydrogen, transmission infrastructure, manufacturing ecosystems, and grid modernisation. Lokesh said advanced nuclear technologies such as Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and next-generation reactor systems are creating opportunities far beyond electricity generation, particularly in modular manufacturing, precision engineering, distributed supply chains, and industrial-scale deployment ecosystems.
Lokesh said AP is simultaneously building industrial corridors, electronics manufacturing clusters, renewable energy infrastructure, and large-scale digital infrastructure ecosystems.
He noted that Visakhapatnam is being positioned as a major AI and data centre hub, with nearly 6 GW of data centre capacity expected to come up over the coming years.
“These next-generation industrial ecosystems require massive volumes of reliable, affordable, round-the-clock clean power.
Energy planning is therefore becoming central to economic planning,” he said.
Highlighting the impact of AI-led infrastructure expansion, Lokesh said global electricity demand is entering a new phase.
“A single hyperscale AI-native data centre can consume electricity comparable to that of a mid-sized city. When you combine AI infrastructure, semiconductor manufacturing, electronics clusters, and industrial corridors, the scale of future power demand becomes enormous,” he said. He added that Andhra Pradesh is already witnessing strong interest from global firms planning gigawatt-scale AI-native data centres in Visakhapatnam.
“Our objective is not merely to host data centres. We want to build the manufacturing ecosystems around them,” he said. “The future of AI will ultimately depend on the future of energy,”
Lokesh said, adding that all stake holders to collaborate on long-term clean energy infrastructure.
