TRUST FACTOR

Lokesh's willingness to listen, his comfort with detail, and his bias for execution create confidence

- BY DHEERAJ HINDUJA

WHEN YOU OPERATE in manufacturing, especially in mobility and energy, you learn quickly that capital is patient, but confidence is not. Investors can handle complexity; what they struggle with is uncertainty. Over the years, I have met many public leaders across India and globally. Few combine clarity of intent with an ability to listen and act.

In Andhra Pradesh, Nara Lokesh stands out as a leader who approaches industry not as a transaction, but as a relationship built for the long term. His vision and capability are manifested in the fact that he holds information technology, electronics and communications, real-time governance and human resources development in the Andhra Pradesh government.

Our association with Andhra Pradesh goes back many years, starting in the 1990s when we conceptualised a 1,040MW thermal power plant. More recently, we interacted closely with the present AP leadership in their last term, 2014-2019, when the state was positioning itself as a competitive destination for industry. In that term, what we valued most was predictability: a government that understood that factories are not “announcements” but ecosystems—land, utilities, local permissions, workforce, vendor networks, logistics and, above all, speed in resolving bottlenecks. Lokesh brought an unusual openness to that engagement. He was accessible, direct and unafraid to ask the right questions: what is stuck, why is it stuck, and what does it take to unlock it?