Google to invest $15 billion to build AI center in India

Google will invest $15 billion to boost data center capacity for a new artificial intelligence hub in southern India, Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian announced at an event on Tuesday.

The investment will be rolled out over the next five years and will be Google’s largest AI center in the world outside the United States, Kurian added.

Earlier on Monday, Human Resource Development Minister of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, Nara Lokesh, estimated the one-gigawatt project at $10 billion.

The deal comes after “a year of intense discussions and relentless efforts” and “is only the beginning,” Lokesh said in a post on social media platform X.

Indian newspaper Economic Times had previously reported that the investment would be made by Google’s Indian subsidiary Raiden Infotech, which plans to develop three campuses in the city of Visakhapatnam.

According to another ET report on Tuesday, state officials planned to continue doubling projects and significantly increase the state’s IT capacity over the next three years.

Companies are ramping up their infrastructure investments to keep pace with growing global demand for cloud services as AI services become increasingly popular.

As part of its second-quarter results in July, Google increased its forecast for 2025 capital spending to $85 billion, up from $75 billion in February, due to “strong and growing demand for our cloud products and services.”

That same month, the company also announced plans to invest $25 billion in data center and artificial intelligence infrastructure over the next two years in states across the largest U.S. power grid.

India is increasingly attracting multinational players, such as Microsoft and AWS, to invest in the country’s cloud and AI infrastructure.