Google Bets $15 Billion on India, Picks Vizag for First AI Data Centre Hub

In a significant announcement that marks a rapid shift in India's digital transformation, Google Cloud has pledged its largest investment in the country. The company will invest $15 billion over the next five years, from 2026 to 2030. A key part of this investment is the creation of Google's first Artificial Intelligence (AI) hub in India, which will be located in Visakhapatnam (Vizag), Andhra Pradesh. This strategic decision shows Google's desire to be a key partner in India's goal of becoming an "AI-first nation."

The Visakhapatnam AI hub will be a modern, dedicated data center campus designed to operate at a gigawatt scale. It will meet the same strict technical standards that support Google's global services like Search, YouTube, and Workspace, ensuring reliability and performance. This hub is not just a stand-alone project; it will connect to Google's growing network of AI centers across 12 countries, positioning Vizag as an important part of international AI infrastructure.

To support the data center and build a complete digital ecosystem, Google will also expand its global subsea cable network to Visakhapatnam. This initiative will turn the city into a key landing station for several international internet cables. According to Google CEO Thomas Kurian, this expansion will improve international connectivity and serve as a "digital backbone," enhancing domestic data flow and linking various regions of India with high-speed, low-latency connections.

Understanding the need for teamwork, Google has joined forces with major Indian infrastructure companies AdaniConnex and Airtel to execute this project. This collaboration aims to ensure the hub delivers the reliable and high-performance infrastructure needed for a variety of users. The ultimate aim is to empower large businesses, innovative startups, developers, and researchers across India to create, scale, and deploy their own AI-powered solutions. This will help build a vibrant domestic AI ecosystem and enable India to take a leading role in the global AI-driven future.

The importance of the announcement was underscored at the event where it was made: “India’s AI-Powered Future and Advancing the Vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.” The presence of important government figures, including Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Electronics & IT; Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister; and N. Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, highlighted the strong collaboration between public and private sectors driving this initiative. Chief Minister Naidu, who played a vital role in bringing Microsoft to Hyderabad in the 1990s, expressed his excitement for Google's arrival in Vizag. He shared a vision for the next stage of digitization based on three key areas: strong digital connectivity, the synergy of data centers and AI, and the blending of real-time data with historical information and global knowledge. This all-encompassing approach, supported by both industry and government, aims to create a powerful alliance that will advance India's digital and economic goals.