Google, along with Adani Enterprises’ data centre arm AdaniConneX and Bharti Airtel, has announced plans to build India’s largest AI data centre campus in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The project is valued at approximately USD 15 billion (≈ ₹13,318 crore) spread over five years (2026-2030).
Key Details of the Project
- Scale & Capacity: The campus will start with gigawatt-scale data centre operations and is expected to scale to “multiple gigawatts” over time.
- Partners: Google Cloud, AdaniConneX (a 50:50 joint venture of Adani Enterprises and EdgeConneX), and Airtel will jointly build and operate the infrastructure.
- Supporting Infrastructure:
- New subsea cable landings (international), making Visakhapatnam an eastern coast connectivity gateway.
- Clean energy generation, new transmission lines, energy storage systems for sustainable operations.
- Fibre networks (intra-city and inter-city) for low latency and robust connectivity. Cable Landing Station (CLS) component too.
Timeline & Investment Terms
- The investment covers five years, from 2026 to 2030.
- This will be Google’s largest AI hub outside the US.
- The project aligns with India’s push toward strengthening AI / cloud infrastructure, digital sovereignty, and scaling compute capacity domestically.
Significance & Implications
- Strengthening India’s AI Ecosystem
This hub will provide significant compute power for AI model training, inference, and AI services locally, helping Indian businesses, startups, and researchers - Digital Infrastructure Boost
By investing in subsea cables, fibre networks, and green energy, the project enhances India’s digital backbone. Visakhapatnam is poised to become a major node on the eastern coast. - Sustainability & Energy Upgradation
With renewable energy generation, energy storage, and transmission improvements, it aims for more sustainable operations, addressing concerns about energy consumption and ecological footprint. - Employment & Economy
The construction, operations, and ancillary infrastructure are expected to generate tens of thousands of jobs, and spur growth in related sectors (IT services, transportation, telecom, energy). - Strategic Positioning
The project underscores India’s attractiveness as a destination for large scale AI and cloud infrastructure investment. It also reflects competition between global giants to localize AI capacity.
Challenges & Considerations
- Energy & Power Supply: Ensuring stable, clean energy supply and upgrading local grid capacity will be essential.
- Land, Environment & Local Impacts: Large data centres consume water, land and require cooling infrastructure; local impact must be managed carefully.
- Regulatory & Permissions: Getting clearances, subsea cable permissions, transmission line deployment, etc., can be time-intensive.
- Latency & Connectivity: Ensuring the network latency is low enough for demanding AI workloads will require well-planned infrastructure.
- Cost Overruns & Scaling Risks: With projects at this scale, risk of cost escalations, delays, or changes in technology over five years is non-trivial.
What This Means Going Forward
- Expect announcements of land allotments, state-level approvals, environment clearance in the near future.
- Other global/international tech players might follow suit, boosting competition.
- Local supply chain for data centre hardware, cooling, energy storage may get a boost.
- Policy support and success may accelerate AI adoption in sectors like healthcare, agriculture, education, finance.
