Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, is quietly planning a major expansion in India, according to Bloomberg. The company, according to the report, may take up millions of square feet of new office space in Bengaluru, the country’s biggest tech hub.
One big reason behind this shift is the tightening of US visa rules under President Donald Trump. New restrictions have made it harder and more expensive for companies to bring foreign talent to the US.
The Trump administration has increased H-1B visa fees, with costs possibly going up to $100,000 per application. This has pushed many American tech companies to hire more people outside the US, especially in India.
Alphabet plans a big expansion in India
Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported that Alphabet has already leased one office tower and secured options on two more at Alembic City, a large commercial project in the Whitefield tech corridor. Together, the three towers cover about 2.4 million square feet. The first tower is expected to open for employees in the coming months, while construction on the other two is likely to finish next year.
Whitefield in east Bengaluru is one of the city’s most important tech belts, contributing nearly 22% of its total IT output. It has grown into a global research and development hub.
Last year, the company opened its largest campus in Bengaluru. The facility includes indoor mini-golf, pickleball courts and cafeterias serving cardamom tea. Since then, Google has posted hundreds of job openings in the city. These roles range from AI practice directors in its cloud division to chip designers and machine learning experts.
Alphabet expansion in India: Space for 20,000 more employees
According to Bloomberg If Alphabet decides to take all three towers, the campus could house as many as 20,000 additional employees. That would more than double the company’s presence in India, according to people who spoke on condition of anonymity, as the plans are not public yet. At present, Alphabet employs around 14,000 people in India. Globally, the company has a workforce of about 190,000.
When asked for a comment, Alphabet told Bloomberg, it already has a strong presence across several Indian cities, including Bengaluru. “We have only leased one tower,” a company spokesperson said in an email, adding that the leased space measures 650,000 square feet. The spokesperson did not comment on the two additional towers or share details about the company’s India headcount.
AI companies move into India
India is becoming a key destination as companies race to lead in artificial intelligence. Google’s rivals are already making moves. OpenAI and Anthropic PBC have both set up operations in India. Anthropic appointed former Microsoft executive Irina Ghose to lead its India business in January.
“India has a real opportunity to shape how AI is built and deployed at scale,” Ghose said at the time. For US tech giants, India offers a practical solution to tougher immigration rules back home.
This trend is driving rapid growth in global capability centres. Industry body Nasscom estimates these centres will employ 2.5 million people in India by 2030, up from 1.9 million today.
The combined India workforce of major US tech firms, including Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Netflix and Google, grew by 16% over the past year. That marks the biggest increase in three years, according to staffing firm Xpheno Pvt.