Chandrababu’s Google claim hides Adani deal in Visakhapatnam

Visakhapatnam, Oct 14: Former minister and Anakapalli district YSRCP president Gudivada Amarnath strongly condemned Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu for misleading the people of Andhra Pradesh with false propaganda over the so-called Google Data Centre project in Visakhapatnam. Speaking to media at the YSRCP city office, he said that this project is not a Google investment as projected, but a joint project with Adani Group, whose name has been deliberately hidden by Chandrababu to avoid public scrutiny. He clarified that the foundation for the Adani Data Centre was already laid during YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s tenure, when land allocation and permissions were initiated under a transparent employment-linked model.
Amarnath questioned how the State could justify offering Rs. 22,000 crore subsidies while getting only 200 jobs, as even Eenadu newspaper published. He said data centres do not generate employment anywhere in the world and even Sify Chairman recently admitted this. In contrast, during YSRCP rule, Adani was asked to build IT Towers and create 25,000 jobs as part of an IT ecosystem model. “If employment generation was the goal, why didn’t Chandrababu demand a Google Development Centre instead of silently handing over land, water, electricity and subsidies to corporates?” he asked.
He revealed that the MoU offers alarming benefits to the company – 500 acres of land at 25% rebate, Rs. 2,200 crore capital subsidy, Rs. 1,000 crore annual power subsidy, 15-year electricity duty waiver, 20-year transmission charges waiver – all burdening public resources. The data centre will consume 1 million units of power per hour—equal to the entire need of Visakhapatnam city—and 5 TMCs of water from Polavaram, for which there is no clarity.
He said, “This is not development. This is corporate looting sponsored by Chandrababu. Visakhapatnam’s resources are being handed over without jobs, without revenue, without public benefit. The people deserve the truth.”