Andhra Pradesh has approved land allocation for Reliance Industries to build a large artificial intelligence data centre near Visakhapatnam, paving the way for what is expected to become the biggest facility of its kind in India.

The state cabinet cleared the proposal on Thursday. The project will come up near the upcoming Bhogapuram airport and spread across 855 acres.

Reliance Industries plans to invest around Rs 1.08 lakh crore in the “giga-scale” AI data centre project. Including a dedicated renewable energy facility to power the site, the total proposed investment rises to Rs 1.6 lakh crore.

The development will include more than just data infrastructure. Plans also feature a cable landing station and a desalination plant to support operations.

Project to be developed in phases till 2030

The data centre will be built in multiple phases.

The first phase involves a 500 MW facility at Polipalli, with commercial operations targeted to begin by October 2028.

A second phase is planned for Bhogapuram East and West. It is expected to add another 1 GW of capacity by 2030.

The scale of the proposed Reliance project is expected to surpass Google’s nearby $15 billion data centre development in Anakapalli, where construction recently began.

Andhra Pradesh emerging as major data centre hub

Several companies have announced large-scale technology and infrastructure investments in the region.

Alongside Reliance and Google, firms including Sify, Digital Connexion and RMZ have signed agreements for data centre projects in Andhra Pradesh.

Officials expect the Reliance project alone to generate around 1,000 direct jobs. Thousands more jobs are also likely to be created in construction and IT services.