Ground breaking ceremony held for Google Cloud AI Hub
India is poised to emerge as major trusted value chain and supply chain partner to the world in electronic manufacturing, driven by strong policy support, Minister for Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said at the Ground Breaking Ceremony of US$15 billion Google Cloud India AI Hub in Visakhapatnam in the presence of Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, N. Chandrababu Naidu, along with several Union Ministers, State Ministers, and industry leaders.
The project is being developed in partnership with Adani ConneX and Airtel Nxtra, and will include a 1 GW hyperscale AI data centre in Visakhapatnam, the Ministry for Electronics & Information Technology said on 28 April.
The Government of Andhra Pradesh has allocated around 600 acres of land in Turluvada, Rambilli and Adavivaram areas for the project.
Vaishnaw highlighted that India has already emerged as a leader in IT services and is now rapidly advancing in electronics manufacturing.
The Minister lauded the vision of the Hon’ble Prime Minister, emphasizing the need for the country to emerge as a global hub in key technology sectors such as Semiconductors, Quantum, Space, and Artificial intelligence.
He noted that India has made significant strides in mobile manufacturing, with mobile phones becoming one of the country’s top export items. Nearly 50% of domestic electronic demand is now being met through local production. Under the Semiconductor Mission, commercial production has already begun in India.
The Minister emphasized that India is becoming a trusted partner in semiconductor and electronics production and called upon global technology companies, including Google, to manufacture their servers, GPUs and chips within the country.
Visakhapatnam emerging as AI Hub:
Describing the project as transformative, the Minister said that Visakhapatnam will evolve into AI Patnam(AI City), driven by cutting-edge infrastructure and global investments.
He appreciated the vision of Chief Minister Naidu in developing IT ecosystems and said the new AI data centre will bring revolutionary changes across sectors such as education, healthcare, aerospace, logistics and agriculture.
He also thanked Google for laying three subsea cables from Visakhapatnam, connecting global digital routes via Australia, the Middle East, Europe, Africa and the United States.
Industry Leaders Highlight Strategic Importance Google Cloud Global Infrastructure Vice President Bikash Koley said that the AI Hub will serve as a foundation for Viksit Bharat 2047 and play a critical role in India’s digital transformation and global AI economy.
Adani Group Chairman Jeet Adani said that the 1 GW hyperscale AI data centre marks a major milestone in India’s AI journey and will position Visakhapatnam as a new digital gateway for India. Fiinews.com
