Vizag’s $15 Billion AI Leap: How Google, Adani, and Airtel Are Transforming India’s East Coast

Google, AdaniConneX and Airtel are building a $15B AI & data-centre hub in Visakhapatnam. Here’s who’s investing, the timeline, job and power math, local debate and what businesses should watch.

When a global giant chooses a port city over an obvious metro, it rewrites local economic geography. In October 2025 Google announced its largest AI investment outside the U.S.: a $15 billion AI hub and gigawatt-scale data-centre campus in Visakhapatnam, built with ecosystem partners AdaniConneX and Bharti Airtel. This project is about servers and subsea cables — but its ripples will be social, political and economic across Andhra Pradesh and India.

Investment size & timeline: $15 billion over five years (2026–2030) to build an initial 1-gigawatt data-centre cluster with plans to scale.

Partners: Google Cloud leading the build-out, infrastructure & campus work with AdaniConneX (Adani Group) and subsea + network & telco partnership with Bharti Airtel. Official Google and partner releases confirm the JV approach.

Infrastructure components: hyperscale data centres, subsea cable landing station(s), fibre networks, and on-site clean energy projects (renewables + grid upgrades). 

This isn’t just servers on the coast. It’s a bet that India will need local, low-latency compute for AI models, local cloud resilience, and control over data pathways. For Vizag it’s a potential generational lift: jobs, suppliers and a new tech ecosystem.

Jobs, Revenue and Local Economics

Officials and analysts have offered preliminary figures: reports suggest the hub could generate tens of thousands of direct and indirect jobs (some local coverage cites figures up to 180,000 across construction, operations and supply chains) and meaningful state revenue from operations and associated services — numbers will firm up as project contracts are finalised. Expect multi-year construction employment followed by higher-paid operations jobs (data-centre techs, network engineers, facility managers)

Will these jobs go to locals?

Short answer: many construction and service roles will be local; specialised data-centre engineering roles often require training or transfer. Governments typically pair such projects with skilling programmes — watch the state’s training commitments.

Who else is in the room & Who might come later

Google’s anchor role brings credibility and ecosystem partners: AdaniConneX will handle campus infra; Airtel brings subsea, fibre and telco integration. Media coverage also notes interest and exploratory talks from other tech firms and service providers (systems integrators, cloud partners, local software companies) — but no confirmed equity investors beyond the announced partners as of the public statements. Treat future headlines (Reliance, TCS, IBM, etc.) as “in talks” unless confirmed. 

The tricky parts: incentives, power, water and geopolitics

Politicians and neighbouring states have already argued over the incentives Andhra Pradesh offered — reports mention substantial concessions (land, tax and utilities support) and political pushback about competitive federalism. At scale, the most practical constraints are power availability and grid stability (1GW is power-intensive) plus subsea cable permitting and environmental clearances. Google and partners pledge large renewable energy investments, but local implementation will be watched closely by investors and communities. 

Does this raise data-sovereignty questions?

Yes, hosting data locally reduces latency and offers control, but it also invites regulatory scrutiny on cross-border flows and national security issues. Expect policy conversations to accelerate.

his is infrastructure theatre with real backstage work — permits, power, ports and people. If the partners deliver on renewable power and training, Visakhapatnam could become a durable AI gateway for South Asia. If not, this will still be a case study in how public policy, big tech and local ecosystems collide — fast.