Why YSRCP won't log in support for Naidu govt's Google AI hub

Six months into an alluring $15 billion investment announced for Andhra Pradesh, the foundation stone for the promised Google data centre was laid in Visakhapatnam on April 29. Chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu led the ground-breaking ceremony for the Google Cloud India AI hub at Tarluvada near the port city.

Accompanying Naidu were Union electronics and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw; Andhra’s IT minister Nara Lokesh; Bikash Koley, vice-president of global infrastructure at Google; Bharti Airtel vice-chairman Rakesh Bharti Mittal; Laura Williams, the US consul general in Hyderabad; and Adani group director Jeet Adani.

Naidu said the 1 GW hyperscale AI data centre, expected to be commissioned by September 2028, would be a game changer for Andhra Pradesh, just like what Cyberabad had been for united Andhra three decades ago.

The IT hub of Hyderabad went to Telangana in Andhra’s bifurcation, and Naidu has been focusing on developing Visakhapatnam as his state’s new tech and talent city. “With the Google data centre commencing operations, Visakhapatnam will become the digital technology gateway of the country,” said Naidu, thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Centre’s support. He added that youth would get abundant job opportunities and there would be a “reverse migration as Visakhapatnam becomes a talent destination”.

Google is setting up the cloud data centre in partnership with AdaniConneX and Airtel Nxtra. The Naidu government has allocated 601 acres in Tarluvada for the project, besides other support of massive scale.

However, the Opposition Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) sees the benefits for Andhra far from matching the incentives offered to Google. While welcoming the data centre, YSRCP leader and former industries minister Gudivada Amarnath claimed the Naidu government was non-committal on the employment generation prospects, thereby misleading Andhra’s youth.

“Despite public claims of large-scale employment, the agreement indicates that the project will generate only around 200 jobs, exposing the false narrative being promoted by TDP (Telugu Desam Party) leaders,” Amarnath alleged.

Amarnath claimed that along with land, the government was extending massive concessions worth nearly Rs 22,000 crore, besides committing mammoth supplies of water and power; yet it had “failed to secure any binding employment guarantee from the companies involved”.

The YSRCP leader said earlier announcements had promised 180,000 jobs “but no clarity was given at the time of the foundation ceremony, raising serious doubts about the project’s real intent”. “Globally, data centres generate very limited direct employment, and despite the involvement of major companies like Adani, Google and Airtel, the complete silence on job creation confirms that the state’s youth are being deceived,” he alleged.

Last October, when Google announced a $15 billion strategic investment, over five years, to establish an AI hub in Visakhapatnam, even competitor Karnataka had termed the incentives offered by the Naidu government as unviable. Perhaps facing Opposition heat for missing out on this investment, Karnataka IT minister Priyank Kharge had said Andhra was giving Google “incentives worth Rs 22,000 crore, 25 per cent subsidy on land and water, free electricity and 100 per cent reimbursement of state GST”. He had questioned if Karnataka could have afforded this.

Amarnath said that during YSRCP rule, “a structured plan was put in place to ensure real employment benefits, including a 300 MW Adani data centre along with an IT development centre, skill university and recreation facilities, with a commitment to create around 25,000 jobs”. “In contrast, the present government has expanded the capacity to 1 GW and is offering huge subsidies without ensuring any employment benefits for the local population,” he said.

Questioning Naidu’s assurance to supply Godavari waters from the unfinished Polavaram project to the Google centre within 60 days, Amarnath claimed that even the power requirements for the hub would be met through renewable energy agreements and projects initiated during YSRCP rule.

The YSRCP questioning the TDP-led government over the number of jobs Google is bringing to Andhra is an attempt to corner Naidu and his son Lokesh over their party’s employment promises. An assurance of 2 million jobs for educated, skilled youth was among the major assembly poll guarantees that helped the TDP wrest power back from the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YRSCP in 2024. The Jagan Reddy government was seen as faltering on industry, investment and jobs creation.

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