Amid H-1B visa rules, Alphabet joins Google and Meta in scaling India operations in Bengaluru, with 20,000 potential new jobs

Alphabet, the parent corporation of Google, is quietly penning one of its largest international expansion tales, and Bengaluru is right in the middle of it. 

According to a report by Bloomberg News, the US tech giant is set to occupy as much as 2.4 million square feet of office space in India’s Silicon Valley, which could significantly alter its presence outside the United States.

The expansion begins at Alembic City, a massive commercial project in Whitefield, a well-established tech hub in Bengaluru. Alphabet has already leased space in one office tower and has options to occupy two others. The three buildings combined create a campus-like presence, which is not a sign of slow and steady growth but a clear indication of long-term plans.

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A Campus That Could Double Google’s India Presence

The initial tower is set to open its gates to employees in the coming months. The construction of the other two towers is expected to be completed next year. If the entire complex is occupied by Alphabet, it will be able to hold up to 20,000 more employees.

This is significant. Alphabet currently has 14,000 employees in India, while its global employee base is 190,000. The Alembic City campus will help the company double its employee base in India, making it one of Google’s biggest talent pools globally.

This comes after Google opened its 1.6 million-square-foot Ananta campus in Bengaluru recently, marking the speed and scale at which the company is expanding its India operations.

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Immigration Pressures and Strategic Shifts

This is no coincidence. US firms are increasingly beset by uncertainty over immigration and talent mobility. During the presidency of Donald Trump, the H-1B visa scheme has come under increasing scrutiny, with proposed changes significantly increasing the cost of accessing foreign talent in the US.

Alphabet is one of the biggest users of the H-1B visa scheme. With the cost of new visas reportedly rising to USD 100,000, up from a few thousand dollars before, the math on global talent acquisition is changing. The opportunity to tap into deep technical talent in India comes without the same regulatory hassles as in the US.

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