'I Learned Korea's Ppalli-Ppalli Spirit': Andhra Pradesh Minister Courts Korean Investment

"We will move swiftly, decide boldly and build immediately — just like Korea's ppalli-ppalli spirit."

Nara Lokesh, Andhra Pradesh's minister for human resource development, IT, electronics and real-time governance, made the remarks during a recent interview in Seoul, outlining his state's push to attract Korean investment.

Lokesh — whom Korean counterparts have taken to calling the "ppalli-ppalli minister" — is pitching a "3S" investment strategy built around speed, stability and service as the cornerstone of Andhra Pradesh's appeal to foreign businesses.

The state's ambition goes beyond landing one or two individual manufacturers. Lokesh wants to build an entire industrial ecosystem — encompassing suppliers and supply chains — that would position Andhra Pradesh as the gateway for Korean companies entering India. "Korea's capacity for rapid execution is a great inspiration," he said. "We are not here simply to sign MOUs. We came to build a long-term partnership."

Lokesh said industrial cooperation between Andhra Pradesh and Korea is already expanding from automobiles into electronics and advanced manufacturing, with plans to extend further into semiconductors, shipbuilding, AI and clean energy. "Over the past decade or so, Kia, LG Electronics, LG Chem and Youngone have invested and built a solid foundation," he said. "We now hope more Korean companies will come and create new success stories."

Despite India's strong growth potential, complex administrative procedures and bureaucracy remain among the biggest barriers for foreign investors. The prevalence of brokers who offer to facilitate business through local connections or political ties adds another layer of burden for companies considering entry.

Lokesh acknowledged that India's federal administrative structure can feel complicated to foreign firms, but said Andhra Pradesh has streamlined its investment process through an economic development board. The board serves as a single window guiding companies through every step — from incorporation and licensing to tax procedures and project execution.

"A partner company's project becomes the state government's project," Lokesh said. "We will not simply hand over land and incentives and walk away — we intend to stay with companies throughout their entire growth journey." He added that companies are encouraged to engage directly with the state government rather than going through intermediaries. "There is no need to look for a broker in our state," he said.

Rather than outbidding rival regions on subsidies, Andhra Pradesh is differentiating itself through administrative competence — the ability to move projects forward quickly.

Andhra Pradesh is also moving to establish a dedicated Korea Desk to institutionalize cooperation with Korean companies, and plans to expand ties between the state and Korean local governments.

Lokesh said Korea could play a central role across the 22 industrial clusters the state is currently developing. In shipbuilding particularly, he said the goal is not simply to attract a single large shipyard but to draw in an entire industrial ecosystem, including equipment and component makers.

"Shipbuilding is not an industry built by a single company," he said. "You need another 360 companies to build one vessel." He added that Andhra Pradesh already has ports ready to accommodate shipbuilding investment immediately, and expressed hope that Korean companies would enter as a group — anchor firms alongside their suppliers.

Lokesh noted that the global success of "Naatu Naatu" from the film "RRR" has raised Korean awareness of Tollywood, the Telugu-language film industry. He said cultural and media cooperation between Korea and the Telugu region should not remain a one-off affair, calling for more durable structures such as co-productions and institutional partnerships between studios and agencies.

Lokesh holds an MBA from Stanford University and is widely seen as one of India's next-generation political leaders. He is spearheading policies to develop Andhra Pradesh into a hub for technology and advanced manufacturing, and also serves as national general secretary of the Telugu Desam Party, the ruling party in the state.