India’s push to become a global AI hub is gaining momentum as Reliance Industries and Adani Group unveil massive investment plans in artificial intelligence and data infrastructure. Reliance has committed about $110 billion, while Adani has pledged $100 billion, taking the combined investment to $210 billion. Though this is lower than the $630 billion U.S. tech giants are expected to spend this year, India is offering tax breaks for foreign firms operating from domestic data centres and rolling out measures to attract AI talent.
“Our resolve is clear: make intelligence as ubiquitous as connectivity,” said Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance. He added that affordable computing could drive innovation, similar to how Reliance disrupted the telecom sector in 2016 by cutting data prices and expanding access. The announcement comes as senior executives gather in New Delhi for a major summit, amid rising investments by Google, Amazon, Meta Platforms and Microsoft in India’s AI and cloud ecosystem.
Both Reliance and Adani are leveraging renewable-powered data centres, supported by their own energy assets. Locating facilities near power plants helps reduce transmission losses and limits exposure to rising electricity costs. “With their backward integration, renewable-powered data centres are simply the cheapest option for them in the long run,” said Ambareesh Baliga, an independent market analyst.
India has had a limited role in the global AI boom due to the absence of large-scale chip manufacturing, making data centres its strongest entry point. Reliance’s unit Jio is building multi-gigawatt, AI-ready data centres, including a Jamnagar facility expected to add over 120 megawatts in the second half of this year. Separately, Adani Enterprises plans to invest $100 billion by 2035 in AI-enabled, renewable-powered data centres. Analysts note that while Reliance aims to create a fully integrated AI stack in India, execution and monetisation remain key risks.
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