BENGALURU: Google is considering investments in India that span not only server and drone manufacturing but also artificial intelligence infrastructure, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnau said on Friday. This suggests the tech giant’s domestic ambitions could extend beyond its cloud and startup programs.“Google is considering investments in India, including AI infrastructure, server and drone manufacturing,” Vaishnow said in a post on X after meeting with Google executives.The mention of manufacturing is notable, as Google’s India announcements are primarily focused on cloud, startup ecosystem support, and AI skilling efforts, rather than exploring local hardware manufacturing.The development comes months after Google Cloud announced what it called India’s largest investment to date, a proposed $15 billion investment from 2026 to 2030 to set up India’s first AI hub in Visakhapatnam. The project includes gigawatt-scale data center operations, expanded fiber infrastructure, and AI computing power.In recent months, Google has been ramping up the push for India’s AI ecosystem through several accelerator and startup initiatives focused on artificial intelligence.Separately, Google has opened applications for the third group of Google Play Accelerator India, an equity-free program for AI-powered app and gaming startups.Last month, Google for Startups Accelerator India invited applications from AI-first startups working on areas such as agent AI, multimodal AI, sovereign AI, and ‘physical AI’, covering robotics and manufacturing applications. The program also provided access to cloud TPU and AI infrastructure.Google also supports AI startups in India through partnerships such as Accel Atoms, where selected companies receive financial support, compute credits, and access to Google Cloud, Gemini, and DeepMind infrastructure.
