Visakhapatnam, known as Vizag, is rapidly transforming into a gigawatt-scale AI compute hub on India's eastern coast. Google announced a $15 billion AI data center investment in October 2025, with construction beginning April 28, 2026. The 1 gigawatt campus, developed with Adani ConneX and Airtel's Nxtra, includes subsea cable infrastructure positioning Vizag as a key Asia-Pacific connectivity node.

Meta has partnered with Sify Technologies on a 500 megawatt facility in Paradesipalem backed by roughly $1.8 billion. A consortium of Reliance, Brookfield, and Digital Connexion plans an $11 billion AI-native development targeting 1 gigawatt across 400 acres. These commitments rival projects in Singapore and the American Sun Belt.

Andhra Pradesh's policy framework enables this growth through a "deemed distribution licence," allowing operators to procure power directly from generators rather than the state grid. This cuts costs and provides flexibility for renewable sourcing. Vizag's eastern coastal location also offers closer proximity to Southeast Asian connectivity routes than Mumbai's western-facing infrastructure.

However, rapid scaling has sparked local protests over water consumption for cooling and land acquisition. How the state navigates these disputes will influence the pace of future investments in the region.