Pune: Andhra Pradesh has a “double engine bullet sarkar”, which has attracted Google data centre, IBM quantum computer and ArcelorMittal-Nippon steel plant among the key investments, said Nara Lokesh, state minister for IT, electronics, communications and human resources development, on Friday.“Quite a few states have double engine govts. We have a double engine bullet sarkar. So we have ‘Namo’ — Naiduji and Modiji together,” he said at the Public Policy Festival 2026 at Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics in Pune. “Yes, Andhra Pradesh is back. We are number one in attracting investments. But a lot of political changes happened before it,” he said.The minister said policy changes will happen only when there is a clear political will and the leadership is dynamic. “Around 50% of the MLAs in 2024 won on their maiden attempts. Similarly, seventeen out of the 25 ministers are first-timers. Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu might have a vision and willingness to do it, but his political team should back it.”The govt is focusing on improving the “speed of doing business” as the “ease of doing business” is not enough to attract businesses, Lokesh said. “Today even a medium enterprise is investing thousands of crores of rupees in capital expenditure, and a six-month delay in govt inefficiency is going to throw the entire business plan out.” He said the CM convinced IBM to bring South Asia’s first 150-qubit quantum computer free of cost to Amravati. “This is a project of Tata Consultancy Services, IBM, and Indian Institute of Technology Madras. The Andhra Pradesh govt is providing the enabling mechanism. Now, the state govt’s challenge is that India should make its own quantum computer.” Lokesh also said there should be a healthy competition between states to allow the nation to make progress. “Odisha is attracting a lot of investments, while Maharashtra is doing some amazing work. These are the states I need to watch out for.”Students can choose third language: MinisterOther than the mother tongue and English, the third language will be the choice of students in Andhra Pradesh schools, and the govt is not enforcing a particular language, Lokesh said. “Hindi is already an option,” he said when asked about his reaction to the controversy over third language in Maharashtra.
