Airtel and Google Announce $15B AI Hub in Visakhapatnam

Bharti Airtel in a significant development for India’s digital future, announced a partnership with Google to build the country’s first AI hub and data center campus at scale in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

This project is not just about investments and infrastructure, but representative of India’s growing ambition to be considered a global AI power, while also deepening the country’s digital infrastructure and bringing Google’s leading AI capabilities even closer to local businesses and consumers.

Gopal Vittal, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti Airtel, said, “This partnership represents a defining leap for India’s digital evolution. By combining advanced AI infrastructure with India’s exceptional talent and expanding global connectivity, Visakhapatnam will emerge as a pivotal hub for innovation and growth in the AI era.”

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Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, stated, “Delivering on India’s AI vision requires powerful infrastructure and widespread connectivity. Together with Airtel, we aim to bring world-class AI services and data capabilities to support inclusive digital growth across India.”

The project, which is estimated to be worth USD 15 Billion and will span from 2026 to 2030, will include gigawatt-scale data centre capacity powered by clean energy. The project will also include building a next-generation cable landing station (CLS) as part of the project that will introduce Google’s new subsea cables to the Indian market. Airtel, with AdaniConneX and others, will establish extensive intra-city and inter-city fibre routes to deliver ultra-fast and reliable connectivity.

The Airtel–Google AI hub will significantly bolster high-performance AI computing in India and expand the cloud, IoT, and broader digital services ecosystem of the country. The significance of the project not only marks a major milestone in enabling AI-based innovation across industries and empowering enterprises, but it also improves access to digital services for billions of users.