AirTrunk MoU Names 400 MW and 1,400 MW Campuses in Andhra Pradesh

AirTrunk signed a memorandum of understanding on November 13, 2026 for two proposed data center campuses in India's Anakapalli district with a combined capacity of 1,800 MW — 400 MW at Rambilli and 1,400 MW at Tootipala. The company announced the agreement in an official LinkedIn post, naming Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu as the government signatory. The deal gives AirTrunk's next phase of Indian expansion something its earlier statements lacked: specific sites and specific capacities.

Both campuses remain proposals, not committed projects. AirTrunk said it plans to work with government and community partners as the developments progress. The company projects that the two campuses could create more than 3,100 direct operational jobs and 4,700 indirect jobs. Those figures are projections attached to the proposed projects, not existing positions.

Why does one district matter to AirTrunk's India plan?

The MoU extends AirTrunk's footprint beyond the three metros where it currently operates or plans capacity. The company's existing India portfolio lists developments in Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad, and describes its data centers as cloud- and AI-ready. The Anakapalli proposal would add two locations outside those markets, extending a pipeline the company says is designed to serve the growth of large technology customers.

The agreement lands as demand for AI infrastructure in India accelerates, and as the practical constraints on that buildout — power, water, approvals and trained workers — become the limiting factors. AirTrunk's own account of its expansion agenda places energy supply, water sustainability, workforce preparation and administrative coordination among the requirements for growth, alongside capital.

For Andhra Pradesh, the MoU converts the state's broader pitch for data center investment into two named projects with stated capacities and employment projections. Whether those projects advance now depends on the practical work the company has already identified: establishing power and water arrangements, completing approvals, and building a local workforce able to operate AI-ready facilities.

What does the company promise on jobs and skills?

AirTrunk tied the campus proposals to local employment. The company intends to support local access to the projected jobs through local hiring, skills development, and partnerships with Industrial Training Institutes and polytechnics in Anakapalli. The workforce plan connects the campuses' potential economic impact to an operational requirement for large data centers: a local pool of trained workers.

Carly Wishart, AirTrunk's Managing Director, Corporate and International, thanked the Andhra Pradesh government for its partnership. "Our focus is on responsible planning and helping people build the skills to take part in the opportunities ahead," she said.

The skills partnerships matter because data center operations require technicians and support staff that Anakapalli's existing industrial base may not yet supply at the scale of two campuses totaling 1,800 MW. By naming Industrial Training Institutes and polytechnics as partners, AirTrunk links the timeline of its proposals to the pace of local training programs.

How did AirTrunk enter the Indian market?

The MoU follows AirTrunk's acquisition of Lumina CloudInfra, announced on April 20, 2026, which brought the company into the Indian market. The deal provided an approximately 600 MW portfolio of planned capacity across Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad, along with existing contracts, customer relationships and operating capabilities. Blackstone and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board were to continue providing long-term capital support to the platform.

The acquisition gave AirTrunk operating experience and commercial relationships in India before it began proposing greenfield campuses. The Anakapalli agreement represents a different kind of commitment: new sites outside established metro markets, dependent on state-level coordination rather than acquired infrastructure. In roughly seven months, AirTrunk moved from buying an existing portfolio to mapping two campuses nearly three times that portfolio's size in a single district.

What sits behind the US$30 billion number?

The Anakapalli MoU did not appear in isolation. On June 5, 2026, AirTrunk filed an investment proposal outlining more than US$30 billion of Indian investment by 2030 and 5 GW of new data center capacity across multiple states and union territories. The company linked that program to growing demand for cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure.

The June proposal followed meetings between AirTrunk founder and CEO Robin Khuda and federal representatives, as well as ministers in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. The discussions covered:

• Reliable and cost-effective power
• Renewable energy
• Sustainable water supply
• Talent development
• Streamlined approvals
• Greater coordination between state and federal governments

The agenda is notable for what it omits. AirTrunk's Indian program, by its own account, depends on power, water, approvals and workforce readiness rather than financing alone. With Blackstone and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board committed to long-term capital support, the binding constraints on the company's 5 GW ambition are physical and administrative.

What happens next for the two campuses?

The 1,800 MW of proposed capacity at Rambilli and Tootipala now enters the stage between memorandum and construction. AirTrunk frames the next steps as work with government and community partners. The company's June proposal listed the conditions it needs to clear: power arrangements, water supply, approvals and coordination across levels of government.

Three numbers define the stakes. The two campuses would total 1,800 MW, roughly triple the approximately 600 MW portfolio AirTrunk acquired through Lumina CloudInfra. They would form part of a 5 GW national target backed by more than US$30 billion in proposed investment through 2030. And they carry projections of more than 3,100 direct and 4,700 indirect jobs for Anakapalli district.

None of those figures is committed yet. The MoU names sites and capacities; it does not break ground. Whether Rambilli and Tootipala move from proposal to powered facilities depends on Andhra Pradesh delivering the power, water and approvals AirTrunk has identified — and on the training institutes of Anakapalli supplying the workers to run them.