Copyright thehindubusinessline
Backed by the recent Google AI Data Centre investment in Visakhapatnam, the Andhra Pradesh Government has constituted a Data Centre Advisory Council to achieve a data centre capacity of 6,000 MW by 2030. “The Council’s formation builds on the Andhra Pradesh Data Centre Policy 4.0 and is calibrated to translate marquee announcements - including Google’s 1 GW and Sify Infinity’s 550 MW - into accelerated development of data centres in the State,” a senior official has said. Nara Lokesh, AP Minister for Information Technology, Electronics & Communications (ITE&C), will lead the council, which comprises industry leaders. The council will advise the Government to formulate a comprehensive, time‑bound roadmap covering power and renewable integration, high‑capacity fibre connectivity, dedicated data centre parks and plug‑and‑play campuses, and talent pipelines. The Council will establish a continuous policy‑feedback loop to refine Data Centre Policy 4.0, improving speed, competitiveness, and investor certainty as projects move from MoUs to construction and operations. The Government has roped in representatives from Microsoft Azure on Cloud & AI, NTT GDC India and ST Telemedia GDC on global operations, Cushman & Wakefield and JLL for land and industrial advisory, Pi Data Centers from the State ecosystem, Schneider Electric on power and cooling for the council, National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), and Data Security Council of India (DSCI). “In the AI era, data is the new oil, and data centers are the new refineries. With Google’s 1 GW and Sify’s 550 MW as the first anchors of a much larger buildout, I am confident Vizag will emerge as the data center capital of the country,” Nara Lokesh said in a statement here on Monday. Published on October 27, 2025
