Google kicks off $15 bn project in 'AI-patnam': Work begins on 1 Gw centre

Project includes 1 GW data centre, subsea cable landings and digital infrastructure, positioning Visakhapatnam as a major global AI and connectivity hub

Around 30 kilometres from Visakhapatnam, the village of Tarluvada sits quietly amid the green stretches of the Eastern Ghats, flanked by paddy fields and mango orchards. On Tuesday, this agrarian landscape became the site of one of India’s most ambitious technology infrastructure announcements, as Google initiated work on the Google Cloud India AI Hub — a cumulative $15 billion bet and one of the country’s largest foreign direct investments in the digital infrastructure space.

 

Nearly 19 years after establishing its first India office in Hyderabad in 2007, Google has now turned to Andhra Pradesh for what it describes as a long-term blueprint to build a full-stack artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem. Set to be spread across the 2026-2030 period, the investment aims to create a large-scale AI and data infrastructure network near Visakhapatnam while also developing an AI industrial corridor centred on connectivity, compute capacity, local procurement, and digital infrastructure expansion.

 

In conversations around the project, at the centre of which lies a gigawatt (Gw)-scale AI hub, a new phrase has begun circulating — “AI-patnam” — reflecting ambitions to recast Visakhapatnam as a major AI infrastructure hub. 

 

The state government has promised Google, Meta, Reliance, Tata Consultancy Services, and half a dozen other companies a combined 5 Gw of data-centre capacity in Visakhapatnam alone.

 

The project is expected to support Google’s AI services, including Gemini and Google Search, while addressing rising computational demand driven by AI applications in India. According to company and government estimates, the initiative could generate at least 200,000 direct and indirect jobs once operational.

 

“This investment stands to become an economic multiplier,” said Bikash Koley, vice-president, Google Global Infrastructure and Google Cloud. “We are incentivising the building of a robust AI industrial corridor right here and committing to local-first procurement, to drive capacity and position Andhra Pradesh as the connective tissue of India’s emerging tech future.”

 

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday laid the foundation stone for the 1 Gw AI data centre ecosystem that Google is developing in partnership with AdaniConnex and Airtel Nxtra. The Andhra Pradesh government has allocated 601 acres across Tarluvada, Rambilli, and Adavivaram for the development, which will comprise three data centre campuses.

 

“When Google, Adani, and Airtel join hands, speedy implementation will be an automatic process. We expect the inauguration of this project by September 2028,” Naidu said at the event.

 

Executives involved in the project pointed to its scale in the context of India’s existing digital infrastructure capacity. “Today, India stands at approximately 1.3 gigawatts of data centre capacity. Here in Visakhapatnam, we are envisioning nearly 1 Gw in a single location,” said Jeet Adani, director, Adani group, describing the project as part of the group’s wider investments in digital and energy infrastructure.

 

Beyond computing infrastructure, the Visakhapatnam project also places emphasis on global digital connectivity. The initiative includes plans for three subsea cable landings along the Visakhapatnam coast, intended to strengthen international data connectivity between India and regions including Australia, West Asia, Europe, Africa, and the United States.

 

Addressing the gathering, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw outlined the proposed cable routes. “One cable will go all the way to Australia, then via the Pacific Ocean to the west coast of the US. The second one will go to West Asia to Europe, then to the US. The third one will go around the Cape of Good Hope, the African region, and then go straight to the US,” he said.

 

Google said the subsea infrastructure would add redundancy and resilience to India’s digital backbone, supplementing existing cable landing hubs in Mumbai and Chennai. The broader initiative also includes the America-India Connect programme to expand fibre-optic infrastructure and low-latency network connectivity.

 

Airtel Vice Chairman Gopal Vittal said the company’s role would include building fibre infrastructure and supporting the project’s connectivity ecosystem through next-generation cable landing facilities and network expansion. He added that Airtel’s Nxtra platform plans to use nearly 400 megawatts of renewable energy for the project as part of its sustainability targets.

 

The AI hub is also tied to clean energy and sustainability goals. Google said the project includes a long-term strategy to support additional clean energy generation capacity, aligning with India’s target of reaching 500 Gw of non-fossil fuel energy capacity by 2030.

 

Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian described the initiative as aligned with India’s broader digital growth ambitions. “This AI hub is a strategic blueprint designed to fuel the government’s Viksit Bharat 2047 vision. We’re deploying our full AI suite to empower every Indian consumer and every enterprise with immense compute power and the tools to lead the world,” he said.

 

The project traces its origins to discussions between Andhra Pradesh minister Nara Lokesh and Google executives in September 2024, with the proposal taking final shape in October 2025. Tuesday’s groundbreaking ceremony coincided with the Bharat AI Shakti Conclave, which brought together infrastructure firms, suppliers, and industry stakeholders linked to the proposed ecosystem.

 

“Once operational, the hub will create at least 200,000 direct and indirect jobs,” Lokesh said, adding that the project could contribute significantly to the region’s economic growth.

 

Vaishnaw urged technology companies involved in the project to expand manufacturing activity in India, particularly in server manufacturing, semiconductor packaging, and memory technologies. He additionally called for greater focus on energy efficiency, water conservation, recycling, and wastewater utilisation in large-scale data centre operations.

 

The Visakhapatnam investment adds to Google’s growing India presence, which includes operations in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Gurgaon, Mumbai, and Pune. In recent years, the company has expanded its engineering and AI-focused infrastructure in the country, including the launch of the Ananta campus in Bengaluru and the Google Safety Engineering Center in Hyderabad.

 

Google also said it has trained more than 1.5 million Indians over the past three years through programmes including Cloud Boost, Gemini Academy, and Grow with Google, while its AI Startup School initiative has worked with thousands of startup founders and entrepreneurs.

 

As visitors drove back toward Visakhapatnam after the ceremony, large banners carrying the slogan “Get Ready VizaG” lined the roads leading out of Tarluvada, a reminder of the scale of expectations now attached to a coastal region preparing for a major role in India’s AI infrastructure ambitions. 

Data infra

Some of India's largest data centres (operational & underconstruction)

 

• Google Cloud India AI Hub: 1 Gw \(under development)
• Reliance: 1 Gw (under development)
• Macrotech (Lodha) Palava DC: Approx 1 Gw, part of planned 2.5 Gw (under development)
• NTTData, NAV2: 500 Mw
• STT GDC : 318 Mw (to add approx 500Mw of additional capacity)
• Nxtra by Airtel: 120-130 Mw (planned to scale to 1 Gw in 3-4 yrs)
• Yotta NM1: 50-52 Mw (expected to increase to 1 Gw)