AP Eyes Global Leadership in Cooling Systems, AI Infra Manufacturing
Carrier Global plant at Sri City boosts AI infra ecosystem plans
Vijayawada: Declaring that Andhra Pradesh is determined to become “the engine that powers data centres,” IT minister N. Lokesh has said the state is aggressively building a full-fledged manufacturing ecosystem to support the rapidly expanding digital infrastructure sector.
The statement came ahead of the groundbreaking ceremony of global cooling solutions major Carrier Global’s advanced chiller manufacturing facility at Sri City on Wednesday.
The project involves an investment of nearly Rs 1,000 crore and would strengthen AP’s aim to emerge as a global hub for next-generation manufacturing and AI-driven infrastructure.
Lokesh said Andhra Pradesh was moving beyond merely hosting data centres and was now focusing on manufacturing critical components required for the sector, including cooling systems, thermal management equipment, electronics and precision engineering solutions.
The minister noted that the state has attracted massive investments in digital infrastructure, including the recently launched $15-billion Google AI data centre hub in Visakhapatnam with a proposed 1 GW capacity, besides Reliance Industries’ proposed Rs 1.6 lakh crore data centre cluster.
The state currently has a projected investment pipeline of more than Rs 6 lakh crore in the data infrastructure segment, targeting nearly 6 GW capacity.
Officials said Carrier’s entry would further strengthen the ecosystem by bringing advanced cooling technologies essential for AI infrastructure, cloud computing and hyperscale data centres.
Sri City has already emerged as a major HVAC and electronics manufacturing hub with investments of over Rs 12,000 crore in cooling and AC manufacturing. The cluster has generated around 25,000 direct jobs and attracted supplier investments worth Rs 4,600 crore. Industry projections are that the region could account for nearly 60 per cent of the nation’s AC production by 2027.
“Andhra Pradesh is not content with being just a host for data centres. We are determined to become the engine that powers them,” Lokesh said, adding that the state’s policy support, industrial ecosystems and focus on “speed and scale” were positioning it as a leading global destination for digital infrastructure manufacturing.
Officials said the Carrier project is expected to attract further investments, deepen international partnerships and accelerate AP’s emergence as India’s data centre and manufacturing backbone.
