Google's Upcoming Campus in Hyderabad to Be Its Biggest Outside the US

Google will set up its first own campus in Asia in Hyderabad - its biggest outside the US - at an investment of Rs 1,000 crore, which would double its headcount in the city to 13,000 employees over the next four years.

Google would be allocated 7.2 acres in Gachibowli, the main IT corridor of Hyderabad, and it will build its own facility, Telangana IT Minister K T Rama Rao said on Tuesday.

An MoU in this regard was signed between the Telangana government and the Internet giant during Rao's visit to the US.

"This facility for Google in Hyderabad, the capital city of the state of Telangana, when fully built, will be one of the largest facilities globally with a built-up space of about two million square feet. The facility will be Google's first-ever own campus in India," Rama Rao said in a statement issued in Hyderabad.

He had earlier tweeted that it would be Google's largest campus outside the US. "First campus in Asia. 2 million sq ft space would be built. Investment of Rs 1,000 crore and in four years, employee size to double from 6,500 to 13,000," added the minister, who had a meeting at the Google headquarters in Mountain View, California, with the company global head for Google facilities and workplaces, David Radcliffe.

Google expects the facility to be completed and fully operational in about four years and it is planned to start operations in 2019, the statement said.

Rama Rao, along with Telangana IT secretary Jayesh Ranjan, also met Bram Bout, Director of Google Education, and Rajen Sheth, Senior Director of Product Management for Android and Chrome for Work and Education.

The minister wanted Google to associate with the state government to support the ambitious digital Telangana programme, particularly the component that intends to promote digital literacy amongst school children.

Hyderabad will also become the first Indian city to get Street View, the minister said.