Key Points:
- Google plans a new Bengaluru campus that could house up to 20,000 employees, doubling its India workforce.
- Tougher U.S. H-1B visa policies are driving tech firms to expand hiring and advanced work in India.
- India’s growing AI talent pool is making the country a core hub for global tech innovation.
Google is expanding its Bengaluru operations with a planned campus for up to 20,000 employees as tougher U.S. H-1B visa policies push the company to shift more hiring and advanced work to India.
Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., has leased one office tower and secured options on two more at Alembic City in Whitefield, one of Bengaluru’s busiest technology corridors, according to a Bloomberg report. The three towers together span about 2.4 million square feet.
Alphabet has confirmed the lease of the first building but has not commented on the additional towers or potential headcount. People familiar with the plan said the full complex could eventually house as many as 20,000 employees.
The first tower, roughly 700,000 square feet, is expected to open to employees in the coming months. Construction on the remaining two buildings is scheduled to be completed next year.
Google currently employs about 14,000 people in India. If the Whitefield campus reaches full capacity, it would more than double the company’s local workforce and make India one of Google’s largest employee bases outside the United States.
Alphabet said it already maintains a strong presence across multiple Indian cities, including Bengaluru, and continues to invest in long-term growth in the country.
H-1B visa Curbs Push Work to India
The expansion reflects mounting pressure on U.S. technology companies as immigration policies make it more difficult and expensive to hire foreign workers on H-1B visas.
Proposed increases in H-1B visa fees, which some reports estimate could reach as high as $100,000 per application, have forced companies to rethink where they locate critical talent.
Instead of relocating Indian engineers to the United States, companies are increasingly building large teams in India to avoid visa delays and rising costs.
“For global tech firms, this is no longer a temporary workaround,” said Kamal Karanth, co-founder of staffing firm Xpheno. “They are redesigning their workforce strategies with India as a core hub, not just a support location.”
Xpheno data show that the combined India headcount of Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Netflix, and other U.S. tech firms rose sixteen percent over the past year, the largest increase in three years.
Karanth said the surge is closely tied to companies adjusting hiring plans in response to immigration restrictions in the United States.
AI Talent Drives Expansion
India’s growing role in artificial intelligence development is another major factor behind Google’s Bengaluru push.
Google has been advertising hundreds of roles in the city across cloud computing, machine learning, chip design, advanced research, and AI leadership. Several listings call for deep technical expertise, including doctoral-level qualifications.
YouTube, Google’s video platform, is also expanding its engineering teams in India to work on generative AI tools.
“India has a real opportunity to shape how AI is built and deployed at scale,” said Irina Ghose, India head of AI firm Anthropic, which recently set up operations in the country.
She said companies need to scale teams quickly to keep pace with AI innovation, and India offers both the talent pool and operational flexibility to do so.
India Moves Toward Center Stage
Google has been laying the groundwork for a larger Indian footprint over the past several years. In 2025, the company opened its largest campus in Bengaluru, featuring extensive workspaces, cafeterias, and recreational facilities.
The proposed Whitefield expansion would build on that momentum and signal a deeper shift in how global tech companies view India’s role in their organizations.
What was once primarily a base for support and back-office functions is increasingly becoming a center for core engineering, research, and product development.
For Google, the strategy provides a way to keep growing even as U.S. hiring becomes more constrained. For India, it brings thousands of high-skilled jobs and cements the country’s position in the global technology supply chain.
Visit Business Viewpoint Magazine for the latest information.
