<p>Google has announced one of its most ambitious infrastructure and AI expansion plans for India. The headline number is striking: $15 billion over the next five years. But beyond the figure, the real question is structural and strategic. Where exactly will this money go, and how will it reshape India’s digital future? At the AI Impact Summit, Google CEO Sundar Pichai made the company’s intent clear. “At the AI Impact Summit, our message is clear: we believe India is going to have an extraordinary trajectory with AI, and we want to be a partner.”</p>
<p>The investment spans subsea cables, fiber routes, a mega AI data hub in Visakhapatnam, public sector cloud infrastructure and large-scale AI skilling programmes.</p>
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<h3><span style=”color: #ba372a;”><strong>Subsea Cables & America-India Connect Initiative</strong></span></h3>
<p>A significant portion of the $15 billion will go into digital infrastructure under a new initiative called America India Connect. The project focuses on expanding global subsea cable routes that link India more directly with the United States, Singapore, South Africa and Australia.</p>
<p>New subsea paths will strengthen connectivity between India’s east coast and major international landing points. The idea is to create multiple high-capacity, redundant routes so that India’s internet backbone becomes more resilient and less vulnerable to disruption.</p>
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<p>On the west coast, new fiber connections between Mumbai and Western Australia will further integrate India into South Pacific data corridors. Together, these routes aim to prevent what experts call an AI divide, where limited infrastructure restricts access to advanced technologies.</p>
<p>Pichai highlighted this expansion in a post, saying, “To help, we have launched new America-India Connect subsea cable routes building on our $15B investment in India’s infrastructure,…”</p>
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<p dir=”ltr” lang=”en”>At the AI impact summit our message is clear: we believe India is going to have an extraordinary trajectory with AI, and we want to be a partner.<br /><br />To help, we have launched new America-India Connect subsea cable routes building on our $15B investment in India’s infrastructure,… <a href=”https://t.co/pb0xH9XbgX”>pic.twitter.com/pb0xH9XbgX</a></p>
— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) <a href=”https://twitter.com/sundarpichai/status/2024089988221309140?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>February 18, 2026</a></blockquote>
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<h3><span style=”color: #ba372a;”><strong>Vizag As India’s New AI Gateway</strong></span></h3>
<p>A major piece of the investment will fund a large-scale AI data centre in Visakhapatnam. The eastern coastal city is set to become a critical subsea landing gateway, adding diversity beyond Mumbai and Chennai.</p>
<p>The proposed AI hub in Vizag is expected to anchor high-performance computing capabilities and support large-scale AI workloads. With direct fiber links to global networks, the facility will position India as a stronger participant in global AI infrastructure.</p>
<p>For a country with over a billion digital users, increasing capacity and redundancy is not just about speed. It is about economic security, cloud resilience and ensuring that AI innovation can scale without bottlenecks.</p>
<h3><span style=”color: #ba372a;”><strong>Cloud Infrastructure For 20 Million Public Servants</strong></span></h3>
<p>Beyond cables and data centres, Google Cloud is deepening its role in India’s governance ecosystem. In collaboration with Karmayogi Bharat under Mission Karmayogi, the company is providing cloud infrastructure for the iGOT platform.</p>
<p>The scalable infrastructure supports more than 20 million public servants across 800 districts. The platform will also integrate AI-powered enhancements, including structured digital repositories and expanded access in over 18 Indian languages.</p>
<p>This focus on skilling and governance signals that the investment is not confined to hardware alone. It extends into institutional capacity building.</p>
<h3><span style=”color: #ba372a;”><strong>Skilling The Next Generation In AI</strong></span></h3>
<p>Google is also targeting schools, students and early career professionals. Partnerships with Atal Tinkering Labs aim to introduce generative AI, robotics and coding education to millions of students. A Google AI Professional Certificate Programme has been launched in Hindi and English to expand access to AI learning.</p>
<p>The strategy is clear. Infrastructure will move the data. Cloud will power institutions. Education will prepare the workforce.</p>
<p>Taken together, the $15 billion commitment is not a single project but a layered ecosystem play. From cables beneath oceans to AI hubs on India’s coast and cloud systems powering civil servants, Google is placing a long-term bet that India will be central to the next wave of global AI growth.</p>
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