The way has been cleared for Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Google to build its first campus outside the U.S. in the Indian technology city of Hyderabad (in Telangana state). The company is expected to invest $160 million in the campus project. The development somewhat ends years of speculations about a major Google project in India.
Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Google’s Indian campus will have 2 million square-feet of office space and sit on a 7.2-acre land. Work on the campus is expected to begin in 1Q2016 and it is expected to start operation in 1H2019. Alphabet’s Hyderabad campus will be the largest of its kind in South Asia, according to various estimates.
Breaking the gridlock
Details about Google’s only campus outside the U.S. were confirmed by Jayesh Ranjan, the secretary of IT in the government of Telangana state. It has long been rumored that Alphabet was planning to pitch tent in India in a major way. It is believed that PM Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Silicon Valley may have helped clear hurdles that held back the campus project.
Since at least 2007, Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Google has shown interest in establishing a campus in India and at some point the company was allocated 20 acres of land for the project. However, the project didn’t take off because of disagreements over land allotment. Another attempt in 2013 to give Alphabet an alternative piece of land for the campus project also aborted.
Doubling workforce
Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Google’s workforce in Hyderabad is expected to double once the campus is operational. The company currently has about 6,500 employees in the technology city.
Investing for growth
In investing in India, Google is clearly positioning itself to take advantage of the Digital India initiative. The company has openly shown interest in serving the next billion of Indian who have not yet come online. Besides the campus project, Google has multiple other initiatives in India to help it penetrate the market and bring more people online in the hopes of helping them unlock their potential. Some of the Google’s Indian initiatives include Android One, a low-cost smartphone program and Project Loon, a low-cost, high-speed and reliable Internet beamed from floating balloons.
In addition to Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Google, several other foreign and domestic technology companies are planning to invest in Hyderabad in the coming years. In the 2014-15 period, Hyderabad’s software export business generate $11 billion, 12% higher than the 2013-14 period.
Sources: zdnet
