Google’s parent company, Alphabet, will invest $15 billion (£11.29 billion) to build an artificial intelligence data hub in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
The facility will be located in the port city of Visakhapatnam and form part of Google’s global network of AI centres spanning 12 countries.
“It’s the largest AI hub we are investing in anywhere in the world outside the United States,” said Thomas Kurien, CEO of Google Cloud, during an event in New Delhi on Tuesday. He added that the investment will be rolled out over the next five years.
The announcement comes amid calls from former US President Donald Trump for American companies to prioritise domestic investment. Meanwhile, India has emerged as a key destination for AI data centres, thanks to its low data costs and rapidly expanding internet user base—factors that have attracted major tech firms seeking to scale cloud and AI operations.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said the new facility “will bring our industry-leading technology to enterprises and users in India, accelerating AI innovation and driving growth across the country.”
A formal agreement to finalise the project is due to be signed on Tuesday, according to the Andhra Pradesh government. State Technology Minister Nara Lokesh described the initiative as “a massive leap for our state’s digital future, innovation, and global standing.”
The project will integrate cloud and AI infrastructure with renewable energy systems and an expanded fibre-optic network. It aligns with the Andhra Pradesh government’s broader ambition to develop 6 gigawatts (GW) of data centre capacity by 2029, as reported by Bloomberg News.
Data centres are physical facilities housing the servers, storage systems, and networking equipment—such as routers and firewalls—required to collect, process, store, and distribute data. They also include essential power and cooling infrastructure to support continuous operation.
To attract global investors, the Andhra Pradesh government has been offering subsidised land and electricity. This strategy has contributed to the rapid growth of India’s data centre sector, which surpassed 1GW of operational capacity in 2024—nearly tripling its 2019 level, according to JLL’s India Data Centre Market Dynamics 2024 report.