Andhra Pradesh Minister for Education, IT and Electronics Nara Lokesh met Aiman Ezzat, Chief Executive Officer of Capgemini, in Visakhapatnam to discuss potential investments and the expansion of the company’s operations in the state.

 

During the meeting, Mr. Lokesh highlighted the state government’s plans to develop Visakhapatnam as a major IT and data centre hub under the leadership of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.

 

He said infrastructure and technology investments are progressing rapidly in the city and noted that work on a large data centre project by Google is expected to begin soon. He also pointed out that companies such as Cognizant and Tata Consultancy Services have already established their presence in the city.

 

The Minister informed the Capgemini leadership that the Bhogapuram International Airport near Visakhapatnam is expected to open within three months, which he said would further improve connectivity and support technology investments.

 

He invited Capgemini to consider setting up an IT development centre in the city with the potential to generate about 20,000 jobs, along with global capability centres, cloud services and business process management operations.

 

The minister also proposed collaboration with universities in Andhra Pradesh to establish emerging technology labs focusing on artificial intelligence, cloud computing, cybersecurity and digital skills. He further sought the company’s support for the development of a “Quantum Valley” initiative in the state.

 

Responding to the proposals, Ezzat said Capgemini would examine the opportunities presented by the Andhra Pradesh government. He noted that the Paris-headquartered company, founded in 1967, employs about 340,000 people globally, including nearly 200,000 in India, where it operates from 13 cities.