Vijayawada:Education minister N. Lokesh met International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman Jay Shah in Ahmedabad on Friday and sought his support to develop Andhra Pradesh into a national sports hub by integrating modern infrastructure, sports technology and youth skill development.
Lokesh congratulated Shah on his leadership of international cricket and praised his role in securing cricket’s inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, achieving record IPL media rights, launching the Women’s Premier League (WPL) and ensuring equal pay for women cricketers.
Lokesh sought support to develop Visakhapatnam as a co-hosting destination for Olympic events, particularly water sports such as sailing, rowing, windsurfing, open-water swimming and beach volleyball. He said the state was planning to launch an Assembly Premier League across all 175 Assembly constituencies, inspired by the Gandhinagar Premier League launched by Amit Shah, to encourage youth participation and identify grassroots sporting talent.
He also highlighted the Mangalagiri Premier League (MPL), which recently brought together 128 local teams.
Lokesh said the Women’s Andhra Premier League (WAPL), with Mithali Raj as its brand ambassador, had recently been launched in Mangalagiri to identify and develop talented women cricketers for the WPL and the national team.
The inaugural tournament was conducted successfully, he said.
He sought support to make AP a dedicated destination for WPL leagues, national women’s camps and domestic tournaments.
Lokesh also explained the ‘She Plays’ programme launched under the education and HRD department to modernise sports infrastructure in government schools and encourage greater participation of girls in sports.
Seeking BCCI technical guidance and financial support, Lokesh proposed the setting up of indoor cricket training academies across Andhra Pradesh to nurture sporting talent from Tier-2 and Tier-3 areas.
On Thursday night, Lokesh urged Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel to explore setting up a Coast-to-Coast logistics and trade corridor between the two states to promote port-led industrial development and strengthen maritime trade.
During a meeting with Patel in Gandhinagar, Lokesh invited him to attend the Vijayawada Utsav to be held at Punnami Ghat from October 11 to 20. He also invited him to the 2027 Godavari Pushkarams, explaining their significance.
Lokesh requested Patel to allot land in Gujarat for construction of a Lord Venkateswara temple under the aegis of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams.
The minister said Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, located on the eastern and western coasts respectively, could work together on key national policy issues concerning the growth of coastal states, industrial deregulation and economic reforms.
He said Andhra Pradesh was developing the non-major ports at Ramayapatnam, Machilipatnam and Mulapeta as part of its strategy to strengthen maritime transportation.
Lokesh proposed bilateral cooperation to share best practices in private port concessions and port-led industrial development (PLID).
He said AP was drawing lessons from Gujarat’s Financial District and GIFT City framework to promote large-scale industrial development in Visakhapatnam and Amaravati. He described GIFT IFSC as a landmark in international financial services and innovation.
Lokesh sought cooperation in exchanging knowledge on GIFT City’s single-window clearances, developer incentives and regulatory framework. He said AP was building semiconductor and green-energy ecosystems and integrating them with industrial supply chains.
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