We're in a hurry. Gen Z is too, they want results: Nara Lokesh on Andhra vision

"We're in a hurry as we have only five years, and Gen Z is also in a hurry," Andhra Pradesh minister Nara Lokesh said on Wednesday, underlining the government's focus on delivering speedy governance in five years. He outlined its ambitious plans to attract investments and build new economic hubs.

Speaking at the India Today Conclave South 2026, Lokesh, 43, said speed would be the "hallmark" of the state government's five-year tenure, adding that the younger generation was demanding results almost immediately. He said the government was moving quickly to deliver on its vision, including plans to turn Andhra Pradesh into a major data-centre and technology hub.

"We are in a hurry because we have only five years. The current generation, which is Gen Z, is also in a hurry. They also want to see changes as of yesterday. They want us to show results. I want to show those results and speed is our hallmark," the IT and Electronics Minister said.

LOKESH ON DEMANDS AND ASPIRATIONS OF YOUNGSTERS

Lokesh said a new movement was emerging among India's youngsters, driven by a desire to transform the existing system rather than traditional identities.

"We are seeing a new movement in India where it has nothing to do with caste, religion or region. It has to do with demography – a set of youngsters who believe the system has to be transformed," he said.

He acknowledged that governments, including his own, needed to improve.

"I believe that there are areas that need improvements, absolutely. Even in our government, we believe there are multiple areas where we can do better," Lokesh said.

He identified jobs as the biggest priority for India's youth and linked it to his government's target of creating 20 lakh jobs.

"Jobs, jobs and jobs – that's the single point that the youth of India want: create more jobs. That's the single agenda with which my government is working. That's where the idea of creating 20 lakh jobs came out," he added.

CLUSTER-BASED APPROACH FOR DATA CENTRES

Lokesh said Andhra Pradesh was adopting a cluster-based approach to developing data centres instead of allowing them to be spread across the state.

"We are also doing it in a cluster-based approach. We are not peppering data centres across the state. It's a very systematic process," he said.

Andhra Pradesh is targeting 6.5 GW of data-centre capacity as it seeks to position itself as a major AI and digital infrastructure hub.

A major project anchoring the push is Google's planned USD 15-billion AI hub in Visakhapatnam, being developed with AdaniConneX and Airtel. The project includes a 1-GW data-centre campus, along with supporting clean-energy and subsea-cable infrastructure.

The state has also approved 855 acres for a proposed Reliance giga-scale AI data centre and cable landing station in Vizianagaram district, involving a proposed investment of about Rs 1.08 lakh crore.

Lokesh said the strategy was not limited to attracting investments but involved building an ecosystem around them, including skilling, testing and certification.

LOKESH SLAMS CONGRESS OVER SIR ROW

Lokesh questioned Opposition allegations that electoral manipulation and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) were responsible for election defeats, saying political parties also needed to examine their organisational preparedness.

"You won elections in Keralam, Karnataka, Telangana. So, there is no role of SIR. If you lose, there is a role of SIR. Where is your organisation to even look at votes? Where are votes getting added? Have you done any homework? Where is your booth-level organisation? In the absence of it, you're blaming the EC," he said.

The TDP leader also questioned claims that the electoral system had been manipulated in favour of its ally, the BJP.

"If they gamed and fixed the system, then why did they lose Keralam and Telangana? It's political convenience to blame. But then do you have an institutional framework in the field to ensure that the voting is mapped? It's not there for Congress," he said.

On SIR, Lokesh said political parties had a responsibility to raise concerns while also suggesting improvements.

He said the TDP had sought clarifications from the Election Commission on SIR-related issues both while in opposition and after returning to power in 2024.

"In fact, as recently as about a year back, we sought a lot of clarification because we also went through our own SIR process," he said.

Lokesh acknowledged that the electoral system was not perfect.

"So is the system perfect? Absolutely not. There are areas of improvement like any system is. But is the intent there to make it better, to resolve the issues that need resolution? That is in place," he said.

LOKESH ON CHANDRABABU NAIDU'S 'MORE KIDS' PITCH

Reacting to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's appeal for larger families, Lokesh described demographic management as a major long-term challenge.

"Demographic management is the single biggest challenge. Countries like Japan and Singapore are already facing [it]," he said.

He cautioned against viewing India as a single demographic unit, pointing to differences between northern and southern states.

"Don't look at India as one India. North India is moving at a certain pace in terms of replacement rate; South India is at a different place. In the South, states are at different levels," he said.

Lokesh said Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu were among the states with the lowest replacement rates and warned that the trend could worsen before recovering.

"Andhra and Tamil Nadu are at the lowest levels, and it will get worse before it improves," he said.

He said Andhra Pradesh's replacement rate was 1.5, below the replacement level of 2.1, and noted that Naidu had been raising the issue for years.

"Mr Naidu is alluding to the fact that demographic management is important. He spoke about it in 2019 and not today. He continues to talk about it," Lokesh added.