Google’s $15 billion bet shows why India has become the world’s AI launchpad
It’s a signal that the world’s biggest tech companies now see India not as a market, but as the next frontier for building and training artificial intelligence.
India wasn’t always the first name that came to mind in global tech strategy. But somewhere between cheap data plans and a billion people coming online, the country has turned into one of the world’s favourite AI testing ground. Every few months, another big player moves in, and this week, it’s Google’s turn to go all in.
The tech giant just announced a $15 billion investment to build a massive 1-gigawatt AI hub and data centre in the southern port city of Visakhapatnam. Spread over five years, this is Google’s largest project in India to date, and the biggest AI facility it’s building outside the United States.
Beyond its sheer size, the facility is designed to power everything from Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) for local AI work to customer service operations for products like Gmail, Search, and Ads. Google will also extend subsea cable infrastructure to the port city, teaming up with Bharti Airtel for connectivity and AdaniConneX for the data centre setup.
According to Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian, the hub will be part of a global network of AI centres across 12 countries, a sign that India isn’t just a market anymore, it’s becoming part of the infrastructure that runs the digital world.
What makes this investment particularly interesting is the timing. The US is tightening tariffs under President Trump’s renewed “America First” mantra, and India is responding with its own brand of economic nationalism, urging citizens to buy local and use homegrown tech alternatives like Zoho, MapMyIndia, and Arattai against the likes of Google Cloud or Gmail, Google Maps, and WhatsApp. Against that backdrop, a deal of this scale between an American giant and Indian partners like Bharti Airtel and AdaniConneX feels both bold and strategic.
Beyond the politics, the logic is clear. India offers a rare combination of scale and affordability. Data is incredibly cheap, Prime Minister Narendra Modi once said that “a gigabyte of data in India costs less than a cup of tea.” Combine that with a young, tech-savvy population that has over 900 million internet users, and the appeal becomes obvious. It’s not just about market access anymore, it’s about where the next generation of AI products will be trained, tested, and deployed.
It’s not the company’s first time betting big on India, it committed $10 billion in 2020 to help expand the country’s digital ecosystem. But Google’s not alone in this race. Microsoft has already pledged $3 billion for AI and cloud infrastructure, while OpenAI is reportedly building a 1-gigawatt data centre in the country as part of its Stargate project. Together, these moves paint a clear picture: the global AI economy is shifting eastward, and India is becoming its new engine room.
Still, the question lingers, how long can this momentum last in such a politically complex environment? For now, the answer seems simple: as long as the world needs cheaper, faster, and smarter AI systems, India will remain impossible to ignore.
Oyinebiladou Omemu
