Google Secures Discom Licence for 1 GW Vizag Data Centre Hub

Google has secured a power distribution (Discom) licence for its upcoming 1 GW data centre hub in Visakhapatnam, marking a rare and strategically significant regulatory approval in India.

The licence was approved by the Andhra Pradesh Cabinet just ahead of the project’s scheduled groundbreaking later this month. The ceremony is expected to take place around April 28, signalling the transition of the project from planning to execution.

The development is part of an estimated USD 15 billion investment, positioning it among the largest foreign direct investments in India’s digital infrastructure sector. The project comes at a time of rapidly rising global demand for large-scale computing capacity, driven by cloud services, artificial intelligence, and data storage needs.

Notably, this approval makes Google the first private company in India to receive a dedicated power distribution licence of this kind. The move highlights the scale and energy intensity of the project, as well as the high level of coordination between the company and state authorities to ensure reliable and seamless power access.

The decision also reflects strong policy backing from the Andhra Pradesh government, reinforcing the state’s ambition to emerge as a major hub for digital and data infrastructure in India.