Around 30 kilometres away from Visakhapatnam is Tarluvada, a quiet village surrounded by the Eastern Ghats. On Tuesday, this agrarian belt witnessed the kickstart of work for the Google Cloud India AI Hub, with a cumulative investment of $15 billion, which will be one of the largest foreign direct investments in India’s history.
Probably, these hills may lead the transformation of ‘Visakhapatnam to AI-patnam’ in the next five years. An outsider is greeted by lush green hills, paddy fields and mango orchards in the region. On Tuesday, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu laid the foundation stone for a 1 gigawatt AI data centre, which Google is setting up in partnership with AdaniConneX and Airtel Nxtra. More importantly, the shores of Visakhapatnam may soon rewrite India’s technology landscape, with three new subsea cable network landings creating a critical digital bridge between India, Australia, West Asia and the United States.
Google’s investment roadmap of $15 billion is spread over a period of five years between 2026 and 2030, which is expected to play a key role in the government’s Viksit Bharat 2047 vision.
The AI hub will include multiple data centre campuses and will support high-performance computing and help businesses build and scale AI-based solutions. “When Google, Adani and Airtel join hands, speedy implementation will be an automatic process. We expect the inauguration of this project by September 2028,” Naidu said, addressing the event on Tuesday.
AdaniConneX and Nxtra by Airtel will lead the construction of the data centre buildings and connecting infrastructure, enabling Google to deploy advanced AI capabilities and scale digital services across India. Before the ceremony, the chief minister inspected the Google Experience Zone. “I would like to thank the Google team for the three subsea cables which will land here in Visakhapatnam. One cable will go all the way to Australia, then via the Pacific Ocean to the west coast of the US. The second one will go to West Asia to Europe, then to the US. The third one will go around the Cape of Good Hope, the African region, and then go straight to the US,” said Ashwini Vaishnaw, IT minister, Government of India.
The state government has allocated 601 acres in Tarluvada, Rambilli and Adavivaram areas for the project.
“Today, India stands at approximately 1.3 gigawatt (GW) of data centre capacity. Just for context, here in Visakhapatnam, we are envisioning nearly 1 GW in a single location. That contrast reflects the scale of transformation ahead. India is entering a new league of AI infrastructure,” said Jeet Adani, director, Adani Group. This project is part of the Adani Group’s broader commitment to invest $100 billion over the next decade in building India’s AI, energy and digital infrastructure backbone.
“Through our strategic partnership with Google and Adani to build this landmark AI hub, we will help advance India’s digital ambitions. With Visakhapatnam emerging as a new hub on the world’s AI map, we will ensure that India sets the pace for innovation and sustainable growth, not just for our people, but for the whole world. Our full stack of best-in-class data centres, use of green power, pan-India ultra low latency fibre, and a next-gen cable landing station will enable large-scale, world-class AI infrastructure in Vizag,” said Gopal Vittal, executive vice chairman, Bharti Airtel.
He said that the entire project is backed by strong global confidence, with nearly 400 megawatts of renewable energy that Airtel’s Nxtra will utilise to ensure India moves towards net zero by 2031. “We will jointly, along with our partners and colleagues on the dais, ensure that the entire ecosystem—from a state-of-the-art cable landing station to hosting Google’s new international subsea cables—is built seamlessly. Airtel will also create a robust intra-city and inter-city fibre network to deliver faster experiences and, more importantly, enhance the resilience and capacity of India’s digital backbone,” Vittal added.
The groundbreaking ceremony was accompanied by the Bharat AI Shakti Conclave, led by Minister Nara Lokesh, creating a unique platform for convening suppliers, industry partners and infrastructure stakeholders to explore how to translate and accelerate Google’s anchor investment into a tangible economic value chain for the region.
As one drives back to the shores of Visakhapatnam, posters are seen of Naidu and Lokesh on both sides of the road, with the tagline “Get Ready Vizag”, with the ‘G’ in the city name showing the four-colour gradient of Google itself.
