'Defining Milestone For India’s AI Journey': Says Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian As Vizag AI Hub Groundbreaking Work Begins

In what can be considered as a milestone moment, Google has officially begun groundbreaking work for its first AI Hub in India. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu laid the foundation stone in Visakhapatnam, marking the formal start of what is the largest single foreign direct investment in India's technology history. The $15 billion commitment, to be deployed over five years between 2026 and 2030, is also Google's biggest investment outside the US

'A defining milestone for India’s AI journey': Thomas Kurian

Speaking at the ceremony, Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian framed the occasion as a shared national mission, not merely a corporate milestone. "Today as we break ground on Google's India AI Hub, I would like to express our thanks to the Government of India, the Government of Andhra Pradesh, and our partners at Adani ConnecX and Nextra by Airtel for making today possible," he said.

"I also want to thank the Honourable Chief Minister and the Honourable IT Minister who have championed this vision and made today possible. This AI Hub is a strategic blueprint designed to fuel the Government's Viksit Bharat 2047 vision. We're deploying a full AI stack to empower every Indian consumer and every enterprise with immense compute power and the tools to lead the world. We're committed to investing in the local ecosystem to uplift business and entrepreneurs and advance skills development to create a sustainable future. We're incredibly proud to be your partner in this journey toward an AI-first India. Now, let's get building," Kurian said in his brief message.

What is Google building in India?

The Vizag AI Hub is a three-part infrastructure project spread across roughly 600 acres at Rambilli, Adavivaram, and Tarluvada on Andhra Pradesh's eastern coast.

At its core is a purpose-built data centre campus designed for gigawatt-scale compute capacity, eventually targeted to reach 5GW, which would be more than three times India's total data centre capacity as of late 2025. The facility will be built to the same infrastructure standards that power Google products like Search, Workspace, and YouTube, developed in partnership with AdaniConnex and Airtel's Nextra.

The investment also includes the construction of a major new international subsea cable gateway, bringing multiple international subsea cables to land in Visakhapatnam — creating an essential connectivity hub on India's eastern coast and providing route diversity to complement existing landings in Mumbai and Chennai.

The third pillar is clean energy. Google will work with partners to deliver new transmission lines, clean energy generation, and energy storage systems in Andhra Pradesh, keeping the hub consistent with the company's global commitment to carbon-neutral operations.

The project is expected to be completed by July 2028 and is poised to become Asia's largest data centre cluster.

Google to create a total of 30,000 jobs

The project is expected to generate approximately ₹10,000 crore in revenue for Andhra Pradesh and create 5,000 to 6,000 direct jobs and 20,000 to 30,000 total jobs in the state, according to Union Minister of State for Communications Pemmasani Chandrasekhar.

The hub is also expected to power key Google services including Gemini and Search for millions of users across the region.