By Obinna Uballa
Google has announced plans to invest $15 billion in developing a major artificial intelligence and data center hub in southern India, the company’s largest of such facility outside the United States.
The announcement was made on Tuesday by Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian, who said the multibillion-dollar investment would be spread over the next five years to expand data infrastructure and support the region’s growing AI ecosystem.
“This will be Google’s biggest AI hub in the world outside the U.S.,” Kurian said at the launch event, underscoring the company’s commitment to scaling up its global cloud capacity.
The initiative is centred in the coastal city of Visakhapatnam, in Andhra Pradesh state, where Google’s Indian subsidiary, Raiden Infotech, plans to build three massive campuses, CNBC reported.
The state’s Minister for Human Resources Development, Nara Lokesh, who confirmed the deal on Monday, described it as “the result of a year of intense discussions and relentless effort,” calling it “just the beginning” of a deeper partnership with Google.
Local media earlier estimated the project’s value at about $10 billion, but the final figure announced by Kurian reflects expanded infrastructure and AI-related investments. The 1-gigawatt project is expected to significantly boost India’s data processing and cloud storage capacity.
India has been positioning itself as a global hub for AI and digital infrastructure, attracting other tech giants such as Microsoft and Amazon Web Services (AWS) to invest heavily in new data centers.
Google’s investment also aligns with its broader strategy of ramping up capital expenditures to meet exploding demand for cloud and AI services. The company recently raised its 2025 capex forecast to $85 billion, up from $75 billion, citing “strong and growing demand for our Cloud products and services.”
In July, Google had announced a separate $25 billion investment in data centers and AI infrastructure across several U.S. states.
For India, the new project is expected to create thousands of jobs, expand internet capacity, and accelerate the adoption of AI-driven solutions across industries ranging from healthcare and education to logistics and governance.
“This is not just about data centers,” Lokesh said. “It’s about building the foundation for a digital and AI-powered future.”
