Google signs $6 billion deal for 1-GW data centre project in Andhra Pradesh

Google will invest $6 billion to develop a 1-gigawatt data centre and its power infrastructure in Andhra Pradesh. Reported to be built in the port city of Visakhapatnam, the data centre investment reportedly includes $2 billion in renewable energy capacity that will be used to power the facility. The data centre will be the largest in capacity and investment size in Asia and is part of a multi-billion-dollar expansion of Google’s data centre portfolio across the region.

Complementing this, the Andhra Pradesh cabinet, in its meeting last week, officially approved a substantial data centre project with Sify. This initiative involves an investment of approximately $1.9 billion for a 550 MW data centre facility.

Andhra Pradesh has worked on attracting IT and technology-related businesses, particularly through its recently launched IT & Global Capability Centres (GCC) Policy (4.0) for 2024-2029. This policy offers a range of incentives, including capital subsidies, rental assistance, power incentives, and tailor-made packages for mega-projects, aiming to bridge infrastructure gaps and foster a hybrid work ecosystem.

A vocal proponent of the state's data centre ambitions, Andhra Pradesh's Minister for IT, Electronics, and Education, Nara Lokesh recently said that Andhra Pradesh has already finalised investments for data centres totalling 1.6 GW and aims to build an ambitious 6 GW of data centre capacity over the next five years from its current near-zero base.

A key highlight of these investments, particularly the Google project, is the emphasis on renewable energy. The state government has actively promoted the development of green energy solutions to power these energy-intensive facilities, envisioning most of the required 10 GW power generation capacity over the next five years to come from green sources.

Beyond these investments, the data centres are expected to be major job creators, offering a wide range of opportunities in technology, operations, and support services.