Google is planning to make a major investment of around $6 billion in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh by constructing a massive 1-gigawatt hyperscale data centre in the coastal city of Visakhapatnam. As part of this significant development, the tech giant is also committing $2 billion towards the creation of renewable energy infrastructure that will help power the upcoming facility. This marks Google’s first major investment of such scale in India and is expected to be a key part of the company’s broader strategy to expand its data centre operations across Asia, including other nations like Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.
According to sources within the Andhra Pradesh government who are closely involved in the project, this new data centre will be the largest in terms of capacity and investment value across the entire Asian continent. The centre will not only provide cloud storage and computing capabilities but also boost the state's economic and technological landscape significantly. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, had earlier revealed plans to invest nearly $75 billion globally in data infrastructure projects, and this move aligns with that announcement despite global economic uncertainties.
Although Alphabet has not issued an official statement regarding the deal, Andhra Pradesh’s IT minister Nara Lokesh, who is currently visiting Singapore to attract further investments, hinted at more such announcements shortly. He referenced a separate public deal with Sify Technologies to set up a 550-megawatt data centre and mentioned that more large-scale investments would be unveiled by October. However, he did not directly comment on Google’s proposed development.
Since being divided in 2014, Andhra Pradesh has been trying to rebuild its economy after losing Hyderabad—its previous capital and major economic hub—to the newly formed Telangana state. With a focus on digital infrastructure, the state is striving to attract technology investments to offset its debt and fund social development initiatives. Lokesh stated that Andhra Pradesh has already finalised agreements for data centres with a combined capacity of 1.6 gigawatts and plans to scale up to 6 gigawatts within the next five years.
The state government is not only targeting data infrastructure but also looking to strengthen its connectivity and energy capabilities. Efforts are underway to establish three new undersea cable landing stations in Visakhapatnam. These stations are critical for enabling fast internet speeds and global connectivity, which are essential for the effective operation of large data centres. Lokesh mentioned that their cable network goal is to surpass even that of Mumbai, which currently holds the country’s most significant bandwidth infrastructure.
In addition to digital infrastructure, there is also a clear emphasis on sustainable power generation. As data centres consume substantial amounts of electricity, the state anticipates a requirement of up to 10 gigawatts in the next few years. Lokesh assured that a significant portion of this energy demand would be met through renewable sources like solar and wind, positioning Andhra Pradesh as a green energy leader. Still, some of the capacity may be supported by coal-based energy to ensure an uninterrupted, round-the-clock power supply needed for the facilities to function without any downtime.
Overall, this proposed investment by Google signals a transformative phase for Andhra Pradesh’s tech ecosystem. The state government sees it as a strategic step towards becoming a major digital infrastructure hub, not just in India but across the entire Asia-Pacific region.
