The Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP) has signed an MoU with the Adani Group to build data center parks up to 5GW capacities in and around Visakhapatnam over the next 20 years. This ambitious project would be a first-of-its-kind 100% renewable energy-powered project in the world.

The GoAP, along with the integrated infrastructure conglomerate Adani Group, will develop the hyper-scale data center market in the state, positioning AP as the east coast data center hub for India and South East Asia. It will also be integrated with a cable landing station that will take advantage of the state’s long coastline to help provide the needed global connectivity and redundancy that the country needs to manage its exponential growth of data.

In line with the State Government’s vision, IT policy and focus on promoting data centers, cloud infrastructure, and allied technology industries as well as renewable energy, the Adani Group will support the development of the digital and energy infrastructure in the state by investing over Rs.70,000 crore, over a period of 20 years which, in turn, is expected to create in excess of 100,000 direct and indirect jobs across the state.

The parks will be developed across three different campuses, with each campus offering complementing value and together providing required redundancy and reliability to Data Center operators. The Data Center parks will be powered with 100% Renewable Energy that will be generated within the State of Andhra Pradesh, thereby accelerating the renewable target goals put forward by the state.

Hon’ble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Shri Nara Chandrababu Naidu says, “The State of Andhra Pradesh continues to raise the bar and set benchmarks as it strives tirelessly to become one of the top digital destinations in the world. From agriculture to financial markets to smart cities to healthcare, digitization is the future and will soon be a critical component of everything that we do. Efficient and eco-friendly Data Centers are the key to enabling this futuristic digital ecosystem. We are very pleased to see that the Adani Group believes in the vision of Andhra Pradesh as one of the most progressive states in India and hence, has decided to partner with the GoAP on this exciting journey.”

Gautam Adani, Chairman, Adani Group, says, “It is a very proud moment for us to collaborate with GoAP to develop the world’s first green data center parks. Data centers are fundamental building blocks for enabling every aspect of the critical technology infrastructure that India needs to further accelerate its growth. In addition, the Adani group’s ability to provide 100% renewable power and its experience in energy management is a critical aspect towards lowering the carbon footprint for an industry that is now the world’s largest and growing power consuming industry.”

The move also marks the Adani Group’s foray into the digital infrastructure sector that is now of significant national importance. Critically, it leverages the Adani Group’s vast experience in full stack energy management (renewable, baseload, transmission, and distribution) and strong project execution thereby making it uniquely qualified to deliver a practical 100% renewable data center infrastructure with a world class PUE.

This network of parks will be flexibly designed to adapt to emerging technology trends in the Data Center industry and will be scaled modularly to meet the customer demands. It will offer a unique energy supply value proposition to its customers. In addition, the data center parks will be transformational in enabling an entire ecosystem system of hardware suppliers, software application providers, start-up companies, and telecom ecosystem players, thereby catalyzing innovation and creating the multiplier effect leading to tens of thousands of new jobs and generating increased tax collections.