NEW DELHI, Aug 26: India’s data centre industry is witnessing rapid expansion as the growing use of artificial intelligence drives demand for computing power, storage and digital infrastructure.
The country’s operational data centre IT capacity has reached around 1.7 gigawatts, representing a fourfold increase over the past six years, according to industry data cited in recent reports.
The expansion is being fuelled largely by the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence, cloud computing and data-intensive digital services.
India has emerged as the largest data centre market among several Asia-Pacific economies outside China, reflecting the country’s growing importance in the regional technology ecosystem.
The development pipeline is also substantial. Around 1.3 gigawatts of additional capacity is reportedly under construction, while projects representing another 3.2 gigawatts have secured key requirements such as land, electricity and regulatory approvals.
Maharashtra currently accounts for a significant share of India’s installed capacity, while other regions are developing as emerging hubs for large-scale digital infrastructure.
The expansion is expected to support the growing requirements of AI companies, cloud service providers, financial institutions, technology firms and other businesses that rely heavily on computing infrastructure.
However, the rapid growth of data centres is also raising concerns over electricity consumption and cooling requirements. AI applications typically require considerably greater computing resources, increasing the infrastructure and energy needed to operate large facilities.
Industry stakeholders are therefore focusing on improving energy efficiency and developing cooling systems capable of supporting increasingly dense computing environments.
The continued expansion suggests that India’s role in the global digital infrastructure ecosystem is likely to grow as businesses accelerate their adoption of AI and other data-intensive technologies.