AirTrunk plans 1.8 GW of Andhra Pradesh data centers

By Sophie Lindqvist

AirTrunk signed a memorandum of understanding with Andhra Pradesh on Nov. 13 for 1.8 GW of proposed data center capacity across two campuses in Anakapalli district. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu joined the signing. AirTrunk, a hyperscale operator owned by Blackstone and partners, has not disclosed what the 1.8 GW will cost or when it will operate.

What did Andhra Pradesh actually agree?

The agreement allocates 1,400 MW to Tootipala and 400 MW to Rambilli, both southwest of Visakhapatnam. Those figures total 1.8 GW. They describe proposed capacity, not operating facilities.

Neither AirTrunk nor Andhra Pradesh disclosed an investment amount, a power arrangement or a construction timetable, leaving the proposal without three basic measures of execution. The MoU records intent, not a construction commitment.

AirTrunk said it would work with government and community partners “as the proposal progresses.” That wording leaves capital, electricity and timing unresolved.

AirTrunk estimates the campuses could create more than 3,100 direct operational jobs and 4,700 indirect jobs. Both figures are company estimates, not secured job commitments. The company also plans training partnerships with industrial training institutes and polytechnics in Anakapalli. The announcement specified no training targets or start date.

How large is the wider India plan?

AirTrunk entered India in April through its acquisition of Lumina CloudInfra. The deal supplied a pipeline of about 600 MW in Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad. The acquisition announcement does not present that figure as operating capacity.

In June, founder and CEO Robin Khuda said AirTrunk plans to invest more than INR 3 trillion, about $30 billion, in over 5 GW of new Indian capacity by 2030. He made the announcement after meetings with ministers in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

AirTrunk’s June roadmap covers more than 5 GW nationwide. Its Andhra Pradesh MoU covers 1.8 GW, but no separate funding amount. Treating the two as equivalent commitments would overstate the project’s maturity.

The announcement does not say whether the acquired 600 MW pipeline overlaps with the over-5 GW expansion target. The two figures therefore cannot be reconciled into a net capacity requirement.

Andhra Pradesh IT minister Nara Lokesh separately pitched Khuda on Visakhapatnam during the same trip. He said the state was “aiming to set up 6 giga watts capacity data centres” there. The 6 GW statement covers the state’s wider Visakhapatnam objective. It does not convert AirTrunk’s two proposed campuses into financed, powered or commissioned capacity.

How does Google’s $15 billion hub change the context?

Naidu laid the foundation stone in April for Google’s $15 billion AI hub near Visakhapatnam. Google’s $15 billion project is India’s largest foreign data center commitment. The project includes a disclosed capital figure. AirTrunk’s 1.8 GW MoU does not, so the announcements cannot support a direct funding comparison.

Andhra Pradesh’s 6 GW goal, AirTrunk’s over-5 GW India roadmap and Google’s $15 billion hub describe different scopes: state ambition, company investment plan and one project. Combining them would produce a misleading capacity total. Neither announcement gives a commissioning date for the projects cited here. That omission prevents a defensible comparison of when new supply could reach customers.

AirTrunk’s proposal arrives as the operator pulls back in its home market. It has dropped Sydney projects after community opposition. The available reporting does not identify the withdrawn projects or quantify the opposition. Their relevance is limited, but they sharpen scrutiny of AirTrunk’s stated community work in Andhra Pradesh.

What should customers and investors watch?

The immediate tests are concrete: committed capital, a power-supply agreement, a construction start and a commissioning date for Tootipala and Rambilli. The announcement supplies none of them.

Until those data emerge, 1.8 GW remains a proposal backed by a state MoU, not operating capacity. AirTrunk’s 5 GW India roadmap and Andhra Pradesh’s 6 GW Visakhapatnam goal remain plans rather than commissioned totals. The announcement also omits pricing and customer commitments. It therefore does not show how the proposed capacity might affect rates or which workloads could secure space.

Future disclosures on financing, power supply and construction timing will determine whether the two campuses support the state’s 6 GW objective or remain only a planning figure.