Andhra IT Minister Nara Lokesh on Google AI Data Centre: Job Creation is Our Single Agenda

Speaking to ANI, Lokesh said that they intend to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi to dedicate the completed project to the nation.

"It's not merely about making announcements; it's actually about grounding these projects, executing these projects. So, we have handled this project till now, and we will continue to hand-hold this project through to the final phase where we intend to invite the Honourable Prime Minister to dedicate this project to the nation,' he said.

"I believe this is just the beginning of our vision of creating 6.5 gigawatts of compute capacity here in the great state of Andhra Pradesh and in Visakhapatnam. And it's not just about one data centre, but it's about bringing the entire ecosystem," he added.

Highlighting the emphasis on job creation with the project, he said, "Job creation is the single agenda with which this state government is working. We have promised the youth that we will create 20 lakh direct and indirect jobs, and that has been the single agenda with which we are working."

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday laid the foundation stone of the Google Cloud India AI Hub in Visakhapatnam, marking a major step in building large-scale digital and AI infrastructure in the state.

The ceremony, part of the foundation stone laying event for the Adani-Google-Airtel Data Centre project in Vizag, was attended by Union Minister for Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister Ram Mohan Naidu, and Director of Adani Digital Jeet Adani.

Google has earlier announced an investment of USD 15 billion in the project, making it one of the largest Foreign Direct Investments in India's history.

The current foundation stone is part of that investment. The AI data centre will have a capacity of 1 Gigawatt and will be developed across nearly 600 acres in Tharluwada, Adavivaram, and Rambilli regions. Companies such as AdaniConneX and Airtel Nxtra are partners in the project.

The state government said the project has been enabled by its proactive "speed of doing business" policy aimed at attracting large-scale investments. With the upcoming subsea cable connectivity system, Visakhapatnam is expected to gain direct digital links with several countries, enhancing its global connectivity.

The data centre will provide large-scale data storage capacity along with advanced AI cloud infrastructure. The coastal location of Visakhapatnam makes it suitable for an international submarine cable landing station, further strengthening its position as a technology hub.

The government's long-term vision is to develop a multi-gigawatt digital hub with a total capacity of 6.5 Gigawatts across the state.

Beyond infrastructure, the project is expected to generate significant employment opportunities, with thousands of jobs likely to be created in areas such as artificial intelligence, cloud operations, maintenance, cybersecurity, cloud architecture, and data science.

- ANI