Bengaluru, October 17: Google said on Tuesday it would invest $15 billion over five years to build an artificial intelligence data centre in India’s southern state of Andhra Pradesh, marking the U.S. tech giant’s largest-ever investment in the world’s most populous nation.
The announcement comes as diplomatic tensions between New Delhi and Washington simmer over tariffs and a stalled trade deal, even as both sides seek to strengthen economic and technological cooperation.
At an event in New Delhi attended by India’s information technology and finance ministers, Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian said the facility would be the company’s “largest AI hub” outside the United States. “This long-term vision we have is to accelerate India’s own AI mission,” Kurian said.
The data centre campus, to be located in the port city of Visakhapatnam, will have an initial capacity of 1 gigawatt and form a key part of Google’s plan to expand global data infrastructure. The project also includes construction of a new international subsea gateway to bolster digital connectivity.
Google has partnered with Adani Group and telecom operator Airtel to develop the infrastructure, according to state officials. The investment is expected to create around 188,000 jobs, they added.
The initiative is part of Google’s broader global expansion, as the company plans to spend about $85 billion this year building data centres to meet surging demand for AI-driven cloud services. In a statement, Google said the Andhra Pradesh investment “creates substantial economic and societal opportunities for both India and the United States,” without referring to ongoing trade frictions.
The move comes amid growing calls in India to boycott U.S. goods, with business groups aligned with Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing frustration over a 50% U.S. tariff on imported Indian products. Indian officials have privately assured U.S. companies of an investor-friendly environment, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.
India, home to nearly a billion internet users, is a critical growth market for global tech companies. Microsoft and Amazon have already poured billions into local data infrastructure, while Indian billionaires Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani are building their own data centre networks.
Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) India operations include YouTube, which has its largest global audience in the country, and the Android mobile ecosystem, which dominates smartphone usage. However, the company continues to face antitrust investigations and a lawsuit from a Bollywood couple challenging its YouTube AI policies.
