‘Neighbours feeling the burn’: Nara Lokesh takes veiled jibe at DK Shivakumar; says state food is spicy, so is our investment | Vijayawada News
NEW DELHI: Andhra Pradesh IT Minister Nara Lokesh on Thursday appeared to take a subtle dig at Karnataka deputy chief Minister DK Shivakumar, following Google’s announcement to invest USD 15 billion over five years to build a one-gigawatt Artificial Intelligence (AI) hub in Visakhapatnam.Posting on X, Lokesh wrote, “They say Andhra food is spicy. Seems some of our investments are too. Some neighbours are already feeling the burn.”The remarks come after Shivakumar defended Bengaluru’s position as India’s top IT hub. Speaking on Wednesday, he said, “There is no match for Bengaluru in terms of infrastructure, human resources and innovation. Some people take the name of Bengaluru as they need it to market themselves.”At Vidhana Soudha, he added, “I will not react to the statements of Nara Lokesh or someone else. There are 25 lakh IT professionals and 2 lakh foreigners working in Bengaluru. Bengaluru’s contribution to the country is immense. There is no match for Bengaluru.”On the Google AI hub, he said, “How can we stop them from going to Andhra Pradesh. They are going there because they are offering many concessions. Let them experience other places too.”Regarding Karnataka’s missing Rs 1 lakh crore investment, Shivakumar said, “Foreign dignitaries keep meeting us to explore investment in the state. No one is leaving Bengaluru. We don’t have to advertise; the inherent strength of Bengaluru attracts investments.”The Google AI hub, announced during the ‘Bharat AI Shakti’ event in New Delhi on Tuesday, will be the company’s largest outside the United States.
