Creating 20 lakh jobs is our single agenda, says Lokesh

Vijayawada : IT minister Nara Lokesh said that creating 20 lakh jobs is the single agenda of the TDP-led NDA government in the state, which was given a massive mandate of 93 per cent seats in the 2024 elections.

He interacted with the industry heads at the Fourth Meeting of the CII Southern Regional Council organised in a hotel here on Saturday. Industry captains from six southern states participated in the regional council meeting. Interacting with the entrepreneurs Nara Lokesh said Andhra Pradesh is one of the fastest growing states in the country with a vision of Vikasit Andhra Pradesh.

“That is the single agenda (20 lakh jobs) with which your government is going to actually work here in the state of Andhra Pradesh,” said Lokesh, adding that the southern state aspires to become one of the first three states to achieve a GSDP of 1 trillion dollars.

Observing that CII has always played a collaborative role, he said that Andhra Pradesh, which has been a hub for agriculture, MSMEs and other sectors, now aims to move faster in IT. He said the government will receive feedback from people for the Viksit Andhra Pradesh vision, which is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Viksit Bharat-2047 (developed India).

In an apparent reference to Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP regime between 2019 and 2024, the TDP national general secretary said the last five years were not pleasant for the industry and vowed that the new government is in place to bring back trust.

As investments nowadays are ranging in thousands of crores of rupees, Lokesh said the focus shifted to speed of doing business from ease of doing business, adding that a project getting delayed by three to six months could derail the entire business plan now.

According to Lokesh, the Skills Census was disrupted due to the recent Vijayawada floods but exuded confidence that it will be back on track to prepare a certified workforce for the industry. Delving on Artificial Intelligence, he underscored that futuristic technology would transform the manner in which business, politics and governance will be conducted.

Further, he called on the industry to actively participate in the AI university project, which is close to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, drawing parallels with the Hyderabad-based Indian School of Business (ISB) as it would be in a similar format.

“This (AI varsity) is designed on the ISB model. We expect the titans of the industry to support us in this journey and actually run the institution...,” he said, noting that the government is good at policy making and giving land.

Further, Lokesh underlined that he is looking forward to overhauling curricula from kindergarten to post graduation as the Human Resource Development Minister of the state.

He also said that there will be many new announcements in the next six months while highlighting that the Economic Development Board (EDB), which will be in place in the next 30 days, will be the single port of call for industry engagement with the government.

Lokesh highlighted that EDB will pursue industrialists until they commit investments in the state, among other initiatives.