Increasing investment in AI infrastructure! Google invests over $10 billion to build gigawatt-level data centers in India

According to the Zhitong Finance APP, Google (GOOGL.US), a subsidiary of Alphabet, plans to invest over $10 billion in southern India to build a 1-gigawatt data center. This move represents a significant layout for Google in the Indian market, which is one of the key markets in its global expansion plan. Nara Lokesh, the Minister of Technology in Andhra Pradesh, stated in an interview that this Google data center is planned to be completed within two years in the port city of Visakhapatnam and is part of the state's ambitious goal of "building 6 gigawatts of data center capacity by 2029." Lokesh, the son of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu, emphasized, "This is not only about creating jobs; more importantly, it will generate a broader chain reaction, driving a large amount of economic activity." Driven by the demand for artificial intelligence (AI) systems, a global data center construction boom has emerged, and India has become one of the biggest beneficiaries. Amazon.com Inc. plans to invest $12.7 billion in cloud infrastructure in this South Asian country by 2030; ChatGPT developer OpenAI is also seeking to build a 1-gigawatt data center in India. According to CBRE Group Inc., investments in India's data center market are expected to exceed $100 billion by 2027. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always viewed technology industries such as data centers as key levers to boost the national economy and help millions of people escape poverty. However, India faces many challenges in achieving this vision: water scarcity and unstable power supply remain significant bottlenecks for data center construction. The Telugu Desam Party, led by Lokesh's father, is an important partner in Modi's governance plan. The Andhra Pradesh government provides land and electricity subsidies for new industrial projects—Naidu became known for his visionary governance in the late 1990s, promoting the transformation of the state capital Hyderabad into a tech city, where companies like Microsoft (MSFT.US) and Oracle (ORCL.US) have established large campuses. Currently, the Telugu Desam Party is trying to leverage its influence to secure more favorable federal policies for companies investing in Andhra Pradesh. Lokesh stated, "We are willing to engage in dialogue and will push for federal policy intervention if necessary." He described this strategy as a "high-speed train driven by dual engines."