Google to invest $15 billion in India to build its largest data center outside the US
Google’s parent company Alphabet has announced it is set to invest $15 billion to build a data center in Andhra Pradesh in Southern India. The facility will be set up in Visakhapatnam, a port city, and will be part of Google’s global network of AI centers spread across 12 countries.
“It’s the largest AI hub that we are going to be investing in anywhere in the world, outside of the United States,” Thomas Kurian, the CEO of Google Cloud, said at an event in Delhi on Tuesday. Kurian also stated that the investment will be spread across the next five years.
The deal comes after “a year of intense discussions and relentless effort,” and “is just the beginning,” said Nara Lokesh, the Minister for Human Resources Development of Andhra Pradesh via X.
READ: US tech firms hesitant to lease large data centers in India (
A report from Economic Times stated that the investment would be made by Google’s Indian subsidiary Raiden Infotech, which plans to develop three campuses across the city of Visakhapatnam. Another ET report stated that state officials planned to continue doubling down on such projects and to significantly scale up the state’s computing capacity over the next three years.
The project will combine cloud and AI infrastructure with renewable energy systems and an expanded fiber-optic network. It is also a part of the Andhra Pradesh government’s plan to develop six gigawatts of data center capacity by 2029, according to Bloomberg News.
This comes at a time when companies are gearing up their investments in AI data centers to keep with surging demands as AI services become increasingly popular.
READ: Blackrock-owned GIP to buy Aligned Data Centers for $40 billion (
President Donald Trump has been asking American companies to prioritize domestic investment of late. Nevertheless, India has emerged as a key destination for AI data centers. The country’s low data costs and rapidly growing internet user base have made it an attractive location for data centers. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said the facility “will bring our industry-leading technology to enterprises and users in India, accelerating AI innovation and driving growth across the country.”
Nevertheless, not all U.S. companies are on board with doing business with India, or leasing data centers in the country, because of the recent souring of trade ties between New Delhi and Washington, D.C. India’s data center capacity is expected to nearly triple in the next five years from 1.2 gigawatts to more than 3.5 gigawatts by 2030, according to multiple industry estimates, despite the tensions with U.S.