Google bets $10B on data center in southern India

Alphabet’s Google plans to invest more than $10 billion in establishing a 1-gigawatt data center in Visakhapatnam, southern India. The data center project will cover three separate campuses in Adavivaram, Tarluvada, and Rambilli villages, with the firm aiming to start operations by mid-2028.

Overall, the initiative supports Andhra Pradesh’s plan to build 6 gigawatts of data center capacity by 2029. Nara Lokesh, the region’s IT minister, commented, “It’s not just about the jobs. It’s about the larger ripple effect that it creates, the economic activity it creates.”

The Visakhapatnam project will include submarine cables and metro fiber infrastructure

Earlier, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had hailed Google’s project a “game-changer,” saying it represents the single largest investment India has seen since its financial overhaul. 

Per project details, Google will channel the investment through its Indian arm, Raiden Infotech India Ltd. The cluster’s construction will also require laying and landing three high-capacity submarine cables, as well as setting up dedicated landing stations and metro fiber infrastructure. Currently, the firm and its subsidiaries have established 29 data center sites in 11 countries worldwide, including the US, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, and several in Europe. The planned Visakhapatnam cluster is poised to be its biggest in Asia so far.

In December 2024, six months into his tenure, Naidu formalized an agreement with Google through a memorandum of understanding. Insiders noted that Google had listed several infrastructure requirements for its data center infrastructure.

Naidu had also earlier proposed revisions to the IT and Copyright Acts aimed at advancing data city projects. The Indian government later issued a draft policy setting out a roadmap for data center development. In May, a Google Asia Pacific delegation then toured Visakhapatnam, guided by Lokesh as they assessed prospective locations. Now, its data project will be incorporated into India’s maiden International AI Infrastructure Hub, envisioned as a digital powerhouse supporting industrial growth and technological innovation.

India’s data center market is forecasted to surpass $100 billion by 2027

India has also attracted companies seeking to enhance their AI systems. Amazon recently announced plans to invest over $233 million in India by 2025. The fund will be used to expand its operational infrastructure, develop new technology for its fulfillment network, and enhance delivery safety.

The investment builds on Amazon’s earlier investments, which were used to create an operational network to deliver to all serviceable pin codes in the country. The e-commerce powerhouse, rivaling Walmart’s Flipkart and Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail in India, revealed in June 2023 plans to invest around $26 billion in the country by 2030.

The announcement was timed after Amazon CEO Andy Jassy met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the US and announced further investments of $6.5 billion. However, Amazon did not specify how that number is broken down.

As previously reported by Cryptopolitan, Amazon’s cloud computing arm, Amazon Web Services (AWS), also announced that it would invest approximately $12.9 billion, equivalent to 1.06 trillion rupees, in India by the end of 2030.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has described the technologies as a lever for India’s economic transformation and an instrument for lifting millions out of poverty. But scarce water and unpredictable electricity may thwart his expansion plans.

Lokesh’s Telugu Desam Party, led by his father, is heavily entwined in Modi’s development strategy. The government of Andhra Pradesh is attracting investors with affordable land and reliable power.

Naidu first made his name in the late 1990s, when he helped turn Hyderabad into a global tech hub with companies like Microsoft and Oracle setting up shop there. Having leveraged its political strength to push through corporate-friendly policies at the state level, including further moves against trade unions and other workers’ rights, the party is now using its influence to push for federal policies that will strengthen companies investing widely in Andhra Pradesh.

Lokesh remarked, “We are willing to have conversations which might even require policy intervention at the federal level.” 

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