On Tuesday, Alphabet Inc.'s Google revealed plans to invest $15 billion over the next five years to establish an artificial intelligence data center in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, marking its largest investment in India to date and its most significant commitment to the rapidly expanding nation.
The US firm revealed its intentions to establish a data center in Visakhapatnam, a port city, which will be connected to new energy sources and a fiber-optic network. The American technology company's strategy emerges during a strained diplomatic impasse between New Delhi and Washington concerning tariffs and a halted trade agreement, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for a boycott of foreign products.
Indian billionaire Gautam Adani announced that his company, AdaniConneX, would collaborate with Google on this initiative, alongside Bharti Airtel, India's second-largest wireless provider.
According to a statement from the US company, Google's largest investment in India so far will support the regional government's initiative to boost the local AI industry. Nara Lokesh, the technology minister of Andhra Pradesh, informed Bloomberg News that the Indian state plans to establish 6 gigawatts of data center capacity by 2029.
Google is joining other leading US tech companies in investing in India, which is majorly benefiting from the global surge in AI. Amazon intends to invest $12.7 billion to establish cloud infrastructure in the South Asian nation by 2030, while OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, is planning to establish a 1-gigawatt data center in the area. According to CBRE Group Inc., investments in India's data center market are projected to exceed $100 billion by 2027.
