TLDRs;
- $11B AI data center campus planned in Visakhapatnam by 2030.
- 1GW facility raises urgent questions about Andhra Pradesh’s power grid capacity.
- New Green Energy Open Access rules enable renewable power sourcing for data centers.
- India’s rapidly expanding data center industry still faces execution bottlenecks.
India is accelerating its shift into the global AI and cloud infrastructure arena, and the latest push comes from Digital Connexion, a joint venture uniting Reliance Industries, Brookfield Asset Management, and Digital Realty Trust.
The consortium has revealed plans to develop a US$11 billion AI-native data center campus in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, a project positioned to become one of India’s most important digital infrastructure builds to date.
According to the MoU signed with the Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board, the project spans 400 acres and aims to deliver 1 gigawatt (GW) of AI-optimized data center capacity by 2030. With global technology companies scaling their cloud, GPU, and AI cluster footprints in India, Visakhapatnam is rapidly emerging as a strategic technology hub.
This investment signals growing confidence in India’s role in the data center and AI supply chain, especially as cloud demand, digital payments, and machine learning workloads continue to surge.
Grid Readiness Sparks Debate
Despite the ambitious scale of the investment, experts and infrastructure planners have raised concerns about whether Andhra Pradesh’s current power transmission network can reliably support a continuous 1-gigawatt load within the project’s proposed timeline. Public records indicate several gaps that could complicate execution.
There are no visible plans for dedicated substation expansions in Visakhapatnam’s industrial corridor, nor is there a mapped high-voltage direct current (HVDC) link or other high-capacity transmission route explicitly serving the area.
While APTRANSCO is undertaking INR 120 billion worth of upgrades and rolling out a Rs 28,000 crore Green Energy Corridor expansion, these initiatives do not yet designate power pathways for Visakhapatnam’s emerging technology hubs. The situation is further complicated by Google’s recently announced $15 billion AI facility in the same city, which will tap into the same grid, creating potential competition for available capacity.
Operating a 1-gigawatt data center, particularly one optimized for energy-intensive AI workloads, demands exceptional grid stability and uninterrupted electricity. Without coordinated transmission enhancements, the region may struggle to meet the aggressive timelines set by private investors.
According to CBRE, India’s data center market could exceed $100 billion by 2027, but achieving these projections will depend on timely state-level execution, efficient transmission upgrades, and integration of renewable energy sources.
Renewables Open Access Expands
A major advantage for the Visakhapatnam project is the Green Energy Open Access framework introduced by the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) in 2024. This policy is designed to enable large energy consumers to procure renewable power directly from generators, bypassing traditional distribution companies.
Entities with contracted demand of 100 kW or more can now access flexible renewable energy solutions, making it particularly attractive for hyperscale data centers.Under the framework, data centers can enter hybrid power purchase agreements combining wind, solar, and battery storage, with settlements calculated in 15-minute intervals for precise load management.
The policy also allows for monthly energy banking, subject to an 8% charge, and offers 75% compensation for unused banked energy, based on rates discovered by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). Application fees vary from ₹50,000 for short-term agreements to ₹150,000 for long-term contracts.
For AI-optimized data centers and GPU-intensive facilities, these provisions are critical. They not only help lower carbon emissions but also ensure more predictable and cost-efficient energy supply, supporting the sustainable growth of large-scale digital infrastructure in Andhra Pradesh.
India’s AI Infrastructure Moment
The $11B Visakhapatnam mega-campus arrives at a pivotal moment in India’s technology expansion. The country is attracting unprecedented global investment in data centers, semiconductor assembly, and AI-focused cloud platforms.
Each project strengthens India’s digital backbone, but also exposes the infrastructural demands needed to handle next-generation compute.If executed as planned, Digital Connexion’s campus would rank among the most power-intensive and technologically advanced data centers in Asia.
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