ASIATODAY.ID, NEW DELHI – Google has said it will set up a $15 billion artificial intelligence hub in India, its largest investment in the country.
Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian said in a blog on Tuesday that the investment will be spread over five years in a facility in the southern Indian city of Vishakhapatnam.
The hub will have a new international subsea gateway and a data center campus, according to Thomas.
AdaniConneX, a joint venture between the Adani Group and data center operator EdgeConneX, will undertake the project, along with Airtel, India’s second-largest telecommunications company.
The move comes as India emerges as one of the key data center markets in Asia.
India’s largest network services provider, Reliance Jio, has announced pacts with Facebook’s parent company Meta, and Google, which include building a gigawatt-scale data center in the western state of Gujarat, according to Forbes.
OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT, is also scouting for Indian partners to build a data center with at least 1 gigawatt capacity, according to a Bloomberg report. Amazon and Tata Consultancy Services, India’s largest IT services firm, have also announced capital-intensive AI plans.
A surge in global demand for cloud services, spurred by an AI boom, has prompted companies to make investments in data center facilities globally.
To tap into the AI boom, India has proposed a national policy on data centers. Its data center capacity, estimated at 1,263 megawatts as of April, is expected to cross 4,500 MW by 2030.
In 2024, the federal government approved a $1.25 billion IndiaAI Mission to facilitate the emergence of the country as a global hub of AI. The South Asian nation’s technology sector is poised to clock annual revenues of $280 billion this year.
The technology and AI ecosystems employ six million people in India, according to government data. (RT)
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