On 20 May 2026 Andhra Pradesh approved the allotment of 854.97 acres in Vizianagaram district to Reliance Industries at a 25% discount for a giga-scale AI data centre cluster with a cable landing station, against a stated cumulative investment of ₹1,08,010 crore and a reported capacity of 1,500 MW. A 500 MW first phase at Polipalli is targeted for October 2028. The project is the largest data centre proposal in Andhra Pradesh and it is being built on agricultural land that the state does not yet control: the district collector said on 4 October that 25 acres are in government hands out of the 855 needed, and 43 farmers have challenged the government order in the High Court.
1At a glance
2855 acres, 25 held
This is the most concrete obstacle in the registry, and it is measured in acres rather than in megawatts.
| Date | Source | Statement |
|---|---|---|
| 20 May 2026 | G.O. Ms. No. 30 | 854.97 acres approved for allotment to Reliance at a 25% discount, land to pass through APIIC |
| 8 June 2026 | Reporting on compensation | About 266 acres acquired for the project, affecting 520 farmers, with 52 assigned-land holders still unresolved |
| 29–30 July 2026 | Andhra Pradesh High Court | 43 farmers challenge the order. The state tells the court it will take land only if required, with consent or under the Act |
| 3 October 2026 | The Hindu, quoting officials | The government has around 50 acres; about 800 acres must be acquired. Around 250 acres are assigned land that farmers cannot sell to private parties but the government can resume with compensation |
| 4 October 2026 | Vizianagaram district collector | The government has 25 acres and must acquire the remaining 830 from private owners. Most farmers are cooperating; a few have approached the court |
| 7 October 2026 | Deccan Chronicle | Farmers renew protest, submitting a memorandum to the tahsildar against acquiring fertile agricultural land |
The discrepancy between 25 and 50 acres is a detail. The discrepancy between 25 and 266 is not: one account says the state has almost nothing and another says a fifth of the land is already taken. Until a revenue record is published, both belong in the archive and neither belongs in a plan.
What matters for anyone timing this project is the shape of the problem. A 1,500 MW cluster on 855 acres needs contiguous land. Assigned land cannot be sold to a private party, so about 250 of those acres can only be delivered through resumption and compensation, which is a slower and more contested process than a purchase. That is a legal dependency, not a commercial one, and no amount of MoU goodwill removes it.
The land is being acquired under the 2013 Act, with the statutory social impact assessment and public consultation that the petitioners say were skipped.
If the High Court agrees, the order returns to the state. That would put a 2028 first-phase target out of reach without anyone in the project doing anything wrong.
3What ₹1.08 lakh crore covers
Reliance is the one proponent in this registry large enough that nobody asks whether the money exists. The useful questions are different: what the money is for, and whether the number survives division.
| Figure | What it is | Must not be used as |
|---|---|---|
| ₹1,08,010 crore | AI data centre plus cable landing station, as quoted in the G.O. | a data-centre-only rate per megawatt |
| ₹51,300 crore | associated renewable energy project, separately reported | data centre capex |
| about ₹1.6 lakh crore | the combined headline that appeared in earlier coverage | a single project value |
₹1,08,010 crore across 1,500 MW is ₹72 crore a megawatt. That is at the top of the observed build band, which is where it should be: the number includes a cable landing station, an asset that produces international connectivity and no megawatts at all, and one that costs a great deal relative to its size.
Strip the CLS out and the data-centre rate lands inside the band. That is a reasonable inference and it is not a recorded figure — no split has been published. What is clear is that the ₹72 crore per megawatt should not be read as expensive capacity. This is the rare case where a high headline rate has an obvious physical explanation.
The renewables figure is the more interesting one for suppliers. ₹51,300 crore of generation behind a 1.5 GW campus is the largest embedded power programme in the registry, and it is not part of the data-centre approval. It is a separate project that will be financed, permitted and built on its own timeline.
4Why the cable landing station matters
Almost every Indian data centre competes on power, land and proximity to a city. This one adds the thing that cannot be replicated anywhere inland: a landing point for international submarine cable.
Bhogapuram is on the Andhra coast with an international airport next door. A cable landing station there means the campus can terminate international capacity without routing it through Chennai or Mumbai — and it is the state’s stated intent that Andhra Pradesh gets its own international gateway rather than buying transit from Tamil Nadu.
| Dimension | A campus in a metro | A campus at a landing station |
|---|---|---|
| Latency to global markets | one hop through a metro exchange | direct |
| Wholesale capacity cost | metro transit and backhaul | termination at source |
| Tenant profile | domestic enterprise, hyperscale | adds international cloud, content and carrier tenants |
| Anchor risk | many comparable campuses | very few coastal sites with land, power and an airport |
| What it does not solve | — | power, water, land, construction, or customers on day one |
The strategic value is real and it is also the reason to discount the schedule. A CLS requires a submarine cable to land there, which requires a consortium, a marine survey, permits and a ship. None of that is in the public record. The G.O. approves land for the campus and directs that one additional acre be identified for the CLS — which tells you how early the connectivity piece still is.
5Land, law and the assigned-land problem
Andhra Pradesh is moving faster than any other state in this registry and is doing so on farmland. That is the central tension of this record and it is worth setting out plainly.
| Item | Position |
|---|---|
| Land type | Fertile, irrigated multi-crop agricultural land supporting thousands of people, per the petitioners. The state says compensation will be at market rates under the 2013 Act |
| Assigned land | About 250 acres. Assigned land is granted by the state to landless farmers on condition it is not sold. The state can resume it with compensation — after which it is no longer the farmer’s |
| Consent | The state told the High Court it will take land only if required, with consent or by due process. That is a weaker commitment than an outright purchase |
| Compensation disputes | 52 assigned-land holders and unresolved discrepancies in survey and revenue records, per June 2026 reporting |
| Litigation | 43 farmers, a High Court petition, and a state response ordered in July 2026. No final outcome is in the public record |
| What nobody has published | A land schedule, an acquisition timetable, or a completion certificate for the assembly |
None of this means the project will not happen. Reliance has the balance sheet to wait, the state has political reason to deliver, and compensation at market rates is a strong incentive for most landowners. But a 500 MW phase targeted for October 2028 requires a filled site within months, not years, and the land is not yet assembled.
Gridvik records the project as approved with land contested. Not delayed, because no revised date has been given; not on schedule, because the precondition has not been met.
6Timeline
- First public reporting of the Reliance proposal at Polipalli and Bhogapuram, with the cluster described as giga-scale and including a cable landing station
- G.O. Ms. No. 30 approves allotment of 854.97 acres to Reliance Industries at a 25% discount, against ₹1,08,010 crore of cumulative investment for the AI data centre and cable landing station. APIIC directed to identify one further acre for the CLS
- Farmers of Polipalli and Bhogapuram object and petition against the order. Reporting in June describes about 266 acres acquired, 520 farmers affected and 52 assigned-land compensation claims unresolved
- The Andhra Pradesh High Court seeks a detailed response from the state on a petition by 43 farmers challenging the allotment under the 2013 land acquisition law. The state says it will take land only if required
- Fresh protests at Bhogapuram. The district collector says government holds 25 acres of the 855 needed and must acquire 830 from private owners, and that most farmers are cooperating
- No construction start, no final court outcome, no revised phase schedule and no published land schedule exist
7Procurement
8Assumptions and method
| Figure | Basis | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| ₹1,08,010 crore | G.O. Ms. No. 30, as quoted across ET, Moneycontrol, Express Computer and the order text | High |
| 854.97 acres | Same G.O. The order text also contains a reference to 853.97 acres, which appears to be a typographical inconsistency in the source | High, with a noted inconsistency |
| 25% land discount | Same G.O. | High |
| 1,500 MW | Secondary reporting. Not in the G.O. Basis not stated | Medium |
| ₹72 crore per MW | Gridvik arithmetic: ₹1,08,010 crore ÷ 1,500 MW, including the CLS | Arithmetic, not recorded |
| ₹51,300 crore renewables | ET reporting, separate from the G.O. figure | Medium |
| 25 / 50 / 266 acres | Collector statement, The Hindu official quote, and June compensation reporting respectively. Retained side by side because they conflict | All retained, none reconciled |
| 500 MW by October 2028 | Reported phasing | Reported plan |
| Not additive | Overlap with other Andhra Pradesh records is unresolved | Recorded as a rule |
9Limits and open questions
10Sources
Sources: Government of Andhra Pradesh G.O. Ms. No. 30, Economic Times, ETTelecom, Moneycontrol, The Hindu, New Indian Express, Deccan Chronicle, Express Computer, Times of India, Medianama, Andhra Pradesh IT Department.