Amazon’s cloud services arm said on Friday it plans to invest another $35 billion (roughly Rs 2,834 billion) by 2040 to expand its data center in Virginia.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) said the new investment will create 1,000 jobs. Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin of Virginia said AWS will build multiple data center campuses in Virginia.
In 2021, AWS said that from 2011 to 2020, it has invested $35 billion (approximately Rs. 2,834 billion) in data centers located in Northern Virginia, and has 3,500 full-time employees in data centers in the state.
Pending approval from state lawmakers, Virginia is working on a new “large data center incentive program” that would allow the company to receive up to 15 years of data center sales and equipment and software use tax exemptions.
AWS will also be eligible for state grants of up to $140 million (roughly Rs. 11.33 billion) “for site and infrastructure improvements, workforce development and other project-related costs.”
Amazon shares closed up 3.8% on Friday.
After a long battle, Amazon announced in 2018 that Northern Virginia would be home to its second headquarters, “HQ2,” which would eventually employ more than 25,000 people. As of April, Amazon said it had about 5,000 employees assigned to the site.
Youngkin has faced some criticism for backing out of the race to attract Ford’s new battery plant, which is expected to be built with China’s CATL, the world’s largest battery producer.
Youngkin defended his decision on Friday, telling Bloomberg News that he was looking forward to “bringing a great company out there. It’s not going to be a company that uses some sort of Trojan horse relationship with the Chinese Communist Party for profit.”
A spokesman for Youngkin said, “While Ford is an iconic American company, it is clear that this proposal would serve as a front for the Chinese Communist Party.”
Ford declined to comment on Jankin’s decision to withdraw.
In July, Ford stated that it plans to localize 40GWh of battery production capacity in North America from 2026, and announced that Ningde Times will provide battery packs for Mustang Mach-E models in North America from 2023, and will discuss the use of batteries on Ford vehicles. Cooperation and negotiation all over the world.
“Our negotiations with CATL continue — we have no new news to announce on either front,” Ford said.
Michigan is also a candidate for the Ford battery plant and a decision could be made in the coming weeks, the sources said.
© Thomson Reuters 2023