APEDB speaks high of Vizag as global hub for AI-led data centres

Visakhapatnam: As part of Visakhapatnam Economic Region (VER), Visakhapatnam has bright prospects to emerge as a global AI-propolled data centre hub, Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board (APEDB) CEO CM Saikanth Varma, said on Friday.

Speaking to Bizz Buzz on the sidelines of a discussion on 'VER growth blueprint: Key drivers for economic transformation' organised coinciding with annual meeting of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Visakhapatnam Zone, all the stakeholders are being involved under the guidance of NITI Aayog to develop the region in various fields so as to make Visakhapatnam a climate resilient sustainable city. He said Visakhapatnam is transforming into an economic powerhouse with the Bhogapuram International Airport getting ready and the works afoot to complete highway expansion with master plan roads and alignments and to start work on the Metro Rail project to connect to Bhogapuram from various clusters in the city.

VER comprising nine coastal districts envisages to become a $125 to $135 billion by 2032 economy focusing on portled development, IT, pharma, digital infrastructure and green energy. The response from the CII Partnership Summit was phenomenal by attracting proposals worth Rs13.25 lakh crore.

Varma said the data centres coming up in Visakhapatnam will be powered by clean energy as per the decision taken by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. VER as per an estimate contributes 30 per cent to the State's GSDP with plans underway to give it a big fillip for a quantum jump. Highlighting that NITI Aayog has identified Visakhapatnam as one of India’s four key growth hubs, Varma stated that with the region must aim to become a trillion-dollar economy to support the state’s $2.4 trillion vision by 2047.

Google's $15 billion AI data centre cluster in partnership with AdaniConneX and AirTel and Reliance Industries with its $11 billion project are on the verge of getting grounded in various parts of the city. Reliance through its joint venture Digital Connexion with Brookfield and Digital Realty, will set up a one gigawatt AI-ready data centre.

Meta has also chosen Visakhapatnam as a landing center along with Mumbai for its ambitious sub-sea submarine cables to enable India as a gateway for digital resilience and cutting down latency. Besides Google's submarine cables, Meta under the project Waterworth is connecting the city to US, Brazil and South Africa by 2028. Waterworth is a 50,000 km, multibillion dollar 24-fiber pair subsea cable project. Sify Technologies has been engaged as a partner for its $5 million project in Visakhapatnam in the first phase.

Varma in his presentation pointed out that though the State Government is confident of exceeding the target in production of renewable energy and position itself as the leader in ushering in clean energy revolution, asserted that digital infrastructure must be treated as core city infrastructure on par with water, roads and electricity if Visakhapatnam is to evolve into a trillion-dollar regional economy. He emphasised that modern cities must be evaluated on governance effectiveness, economic viability, investor confidence, quality of life, sustainability, and climate resilience.

Varma outlined seven growth drivers for the region: port-centric manufacturing from Visakhapatnam to Kakinada; the upcoming Bhogapuram International Airport enabling MRO, cargo, and logistics industries; advanced digital and data infrastructure; aquaculture and food processing; coastal and corporate tourism; healthcare and pharmaceuticals including medical tourism; and integrated urban development with metro connectivity.

He further emphasised the need for a unified digital infrastructure stack—spanning land, clean energy, compute, data systems, digital platforms, and cybersecurity—managed through shared KPIs rather than siloed projects.

Among others, K Manojar Raja, Principal Executive Director (Southern Region), RailTel Corporation of India Ltd and G Muralikrishna, Chairman, CII Andhra Pradesh, spoke.