Andhra Pradesh to Build Data City Near Visakhapatnam, Plans Include AI Hub

The Andhra Pradesh government is preparing to build a Data City near Visakhapatnam, which will include data centers and an Artificial Intelligence (AI) hub. This project is part of the Telugu Desam Party's election promise, which aims to create 2 million jobs within five years. The Data City, which will be developed in Madhurawada (near Visakhapatnam), will span over 500 acres and host major IT companies providing technological services. The government has already started land acquisition for this project.

As part of this, Google has been allocated 80 acres of land to set up its data center. An MoU has already been signed between Google and the Andhra Pradesh government regarding this. Additionally, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) will be given 30 acres of land for their center. This initiative is the brainchild of Andhra Pradesh's IT Minister Nara Lokesh, the son of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who previously played a key role in the success of Hyderabad's Hi-Tech City.

During the World Economic Forum (WEF), Nara Lokesh had discussions with Temasek Holdings of Singapore and the CEO of Cognizant regarding this project. Lokesh emphasized, "We are going to make Visakhapatnam India's next major tech hub. There is immense interest in IT, data centers, and AI companies." Andhra Pradesh is competing with Telangana and Maharashtra to become a leader in the data center sector. Similar to these states, Andhra Pradesh is also working to strengthen its digital infrastructure and attract international investors.