Google announced plans to invest $15 billion in the next five years to set up a gigawatt-scale data centre in Vizag and its largest artificial intelligence (AI) hub outside the US.
This is its biggest overseas investment. ET was the first to provide, on October 8, details about the mega project, which was announced by Google Cloud chief executive Thomas Kurian in New Delhi on Tuesday.
PM Narendra Modi said the technology major’s investment aligns with the Viksit Bharat vision. “It will be a powerful force in democratising technology. It will ensure AI for all, delivering cutting-edge tools to citizens, boosting our digital economy and securing India’s place as a global technology leader,” he said in a post on X.
Google chief Sundar Pichai underscored the role of the project in boosting broader growth in India. “Through it, we will bring our industry-leading technology to enterprises and users in India,” he posted on X.
This will help in “accelerating AI innovation and driving growth across the country,” said Pichai. The project will incorporate an undersea cable landing station, large-scale energy infrastructure, expanded fiber optic network, and meet compute demand from other key Asian markets, Kurian said.
The hub, which is set to house tensor processing units (TPUs), Google’s proprietary AI processing technology, and data storage capabilities for sovereign AI requirements, will
benefit not only Google, but also Indian organisations and entrepreneurs, Kurian said.
“It’s designed to provide a full AI infrastructure, and its capacity will be scaled up to multiple GWs later,” he said. Google’s iconic consumer products, including Search, YouTube and Gmail, will be served from this Indian hub for the first time.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, electronics & IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and state IT minister Nara Lokesh were present at Tuesday’s event.
Vaishnaw outlined three key priorities for the AI hub — massive-scale reskilling of IT professionals, enhanced undersea cable connectivity and developing AI services as a new category in India's digital economy. “AI skilling, reskilling for IT professionals; please make it a major part of your entire agenda here,” he urged Google.
He said the planned undersea cable infrastructure set to land in Visakhapatnam will establish it as a global connectivity hub. “But I will also request that Andaman is a very strategic location. Singapore is today choked. Why can’t we make Andaman the next big hub for global internet data transfer? The government will provide full support for Google and other internet-based organisations to spread their capacities to South East Asia, Australia and a large part of the world,” he said.
The minister also requested that an undersea cable link be made to Myanmar's Sittwe, from where it can be taken to the northeastern states. The investment will be made
through Google’s Indian subsidiary, Raiden Infotech, developing three campuses across Vizag.
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This is its biggest overseas investment. ET was the first to provide, on October 8, details about the mega project, which was announced by Google Cloud chief executive Thomas Kurian in New Delhi on Tuesday.
PM Narendra Modi said the technology major’s investment aligns with the Viksit Bharat vision. “It will be a powerful force in democratising technology. It will ensure AI for all, delivering cutting-edge tools to citizens, boosting our digital economy and securing India’s place as a global technology leader,” he said in a post on X.
Google chief Sundar Pichai underscored the role of the project in boosting broader growth in India. “Through it, we will bring our industry-leading technology to enterprises and users in India,” he posted on X.
This will help in “accelerating AI innovation and driving growth across the country,” said Pichai. The project will incorporate an undersea cable landing station, large-scale energy infrastructure, expanded fiber optic network, and meet compute demand from other key Asian markets, Kurian said.
The hub, which is set to house tensor processing units (TPUs), Google’s proprietary AI processing technology, and data storage capabilities for sovereign AI requirements, will
benefit not only Google, but also Indian organisations and entrepreneurs, Kurian said.
“It’s designed to provide a full AI infrastructure, and its capacity will be scaled up to multiple GWs later,” he said. Google’s iconic consumer products, including Search, YouTube and Gmail, will be served from this Indian hub for the first time.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, electronics & IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and state IT minister Nara Lokesh were present at Tuesday’s event.
Vaishnaw outlined three key priorities for the AI hub — massive-scale reskilling of IT professionals, enhanced undersea cable connectivity and developing AI services as a new category in India's digital economy. “AI skilling, reskilling for IT professionals; please make it a major part of your entire agenda here,” he urged Google.
He said the planned undersea cable infrastructure set to land in Visakhapatnam will establish it as a global connectivity hub. “But I will also request that Andaman is a very strategic location. Singapore is today choked. Why can’t we make Andaman the next big hub for global internet data transfer? The government will provide full support for Google and other internet-based organisations to spread their capacities to South East Asia, Australia and a large part of the world,” he said.
The minister also requested that an undersea cable link be made to Myanmar's Sittwe, from where it can be taken to the northeastern states. The investment will be made
through Google’s Indian subsidiary, Raiden Infotech, developing three campuses across Vizag.
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