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Ashwini Vaishnaw
Union IT and Electronics Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday proposed making Andaman the next major hub for global internet data transfer due to its geographic location.
Ashwini Vaishnaw pitches Andaman as next big hub for global internet data transfer
Speaking at the Bharat AI Shakti event, he pitched for extending the submarine cable to Myanmar, from where it can be drawn to the Indian northeastern states.
"Why can't we make Andaman the next big hub for global Internet data transfer? Andaman can actually help Google and every other Internet-based organisation to reach Southeast Asia, to Australia, to a large part of the world, which is today looking at totally new capacity," the minister said.
Meanwhile, Google announced its biggest ever investment of USD 15 billion in building an AI hub in Andhra Pradesh, which would include a gigawatt-scale data centre in partnership with Adani Group.
The tech giant has partnered with Bharti Airtel to establish the purpose-built, gigawatt-scale data centre in Visakhapatnam, with the facility being optimised to handle the demanding AI workloads in India.
As part of the project, Airtel will build a state-of-the-art Cable Landing Station (CLS) in Visakhapatnam to host Google's new international subsea cables.
The telecom service provider will create and manage a robust, high-capacity, low-latency intra-city as well as inter-city fibre network as part of the project to increase the resilience and capacity.
The Minister asked companies to link Vizag to Sittwe in Myanmar to take the cable up to the northeastern states.
"The current connectivity that we are providing via the railway networks, the Railtel network, requires significant augmentation. If we can really go via Myanmar to Mizoram...so that we can take the cable up to the northeastern states because northeastern states require much better connectivity," Vaishnaw said.
He said a railway line has already been laid up to Sairang in Mizoram. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed the line to be extended to the Myanmar border. A highway is already being constructed from Sittwe.