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Nobody’s asking this: How did India bag Google's MASSIVE $10 bn data centre project? Most people don’t know - Malaysia, Tokyo, Seoul & Singapore were also competing for this mega project. And this makes it important to understand what the Modi Govt and the Chandrababu Naidu Govt gave away to make it happen. Let’s understand one by one. .. A Private Information Superhighway: - For years, any company wanting a pan-India optical fiber network needed a cumbersome National Long Distance (NLD) license - A TOTAL roadblock. Google argued that in over 20 other countries, it operates its own captive networks. The Govt is said to have accepted that argument - Instead of forcing Google into an old framework, it is said to be creating a new "captive authorisation" category And, this would be a landmark reform giving Google total control over its network for its AI ops, and also paving the way for more of such mega investments from the likes if OpenAI, Amazon and more. .. A Pragmatic Approach to Data Sovereignty: This was the most complex hurdle. - Google's plan involves a private undersea cable connecting Asia to Europe via Vizag - A HUGE portion of this is "transit traffic" - data that neither originates nor terminates in India - Forcing this traffic under our legal interception laws was a deal-breaker. The Govt is said to have carved out a brilliant exemption as a result A mature solution that signals India is ready to be a TRUSTED global data hub. .. The 'Plug-and-Play' Ecosystem: On the ground, the Andhra Pradesh Govt acted less like a regulator and more like a co-founder. - They didn't just allocate 300 acres of land for the 1st phase - They committed to building dedicated power and water corridors to service the project's massive energy needs More importantly, they are providing a long-term, discounted power tariff, de-risking one of the project's BIGGEST operational expenses. .. Now some might argue that this is a case of Govt giving away too much. Maybe. But, this entire episode is a new playbook inspired by the reality that when it comes to mega investments that multiple countries are falling over each other for, you need to out-do the competing nations. And for this, the Govt in India ought to question, dismantle, and rewrite the rules of the past. And the only reason this has been made possible (in my opinion) is because Chandrababu Naidu’s party’s support is of critical importance to the Modi Govt’s very existence. Thus, cheers to such instances of coalitions working out well for India!