Google to pour $10 bn into Visakhapatnam for massive data hub cluster

Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu is set to approve Google's $10 billion investment plan in the data centre hub. This will be Google's largest-ever direct investment in India's digital economy

Google is on the verge of investing $10 billion to establish a 1-gigawatt (GW) data centre cluster in Visakhapatnam, marking the global technology giant’s first such investment in India, according to a report by The Economic Times.

 

The details of the agreement are expected to be finalised between Google’s top executives and Andhra Pradesh IT and electronics minister Nara Lokesh in New Delhi on October 14.

 

Three campuses to come up near Visakhapatnam

 

According to the report, the facility will comprise three data centre campuses at Adavivaram and Tarluvada villages in Visakhapatnam district and Rambilli village in Anakapalli district. These campuses are slated to become operational by July 2028.

 

 

Construction of the cluster will involve the installation and landing of three high-capacity submarine cables, the setting up of dedicated cable landing stations, high-capacity metro fibre lines, and telecommunications infrastructure, according to the report.

 

Andhra CM set to approve landmark investment

 

The Andhra Pradesh State Investment Promotion Board, chaired by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, is expected to clear the investment proposal on Wednesday. This project is set to become Google’s largest-ever direct investment in India’s digital economy.

 

Naidu had earlier proposed amendments to the Information Technology Act and Copyright Act to encourage the development of data cities. Following this, the Centre circulated a draft policy to provide a framework for data centres.

 

AI infrastructure hub

 

Google’s Asia-Pacific team had visited Visakhapatnam in May this year, with Lokesh personally escorting them to inspect various potential sites. The proposed data centre cluster will form part of India’s first international AI infrastructure hub -- a large digital infrastructure region concentrated within a specific geographical zone.

 

Big tech drives data centre demand

 

Currently, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google together account for about 30 per cent of India’s data centre demand, a share projected to increase to 35 per cent, according to property consultancy Anarock Capital.

 

Earlier, Alok Bajpai, managing director of India for NTT Global Data Centers, said that orders from major technology firms for ‘hyperscalers’ were still pending, as the companies were holding off on signing them for now. Hyperscalers operate massive data centres engineered for extreme scalability to handle large-scale workloads.

 

India’s data centre industry is expected to attract investments worth ₹1.6 trillion–2.0 trillion over the next five to seven years, according to India Ratings and Research. Data centre companies have announced plans to add 7.1 GW of fresh capacity, although nearly 60 per cent of this remains at an early stage.