The data centre industry in India is growing steadily. The total data centre capacity in the country has increased from about 375 MW in 2020 to around 1500 MW by 2025.

To support AI development, about 38,231 GPUs have been onboarded through 14 empanelled service providers or data centres under the AI compute capacity framework.

These are being provided to startups, researchers, academia and other eligible users at a subsidised average rate of ₹65 per hour. This is about one-third of the global average cost. These Data centres are located across the country, such as Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Noida and Jamnagar.

The expected electricity demand from the growth of AI and other large-scale data centres is factored into the planning process of the government. As per information available with the Ministry of Power, electricity demand from data centres is estimated to reach 13.56 GW by 2031–32.

India’s national transmission infrastructure is continuously being expanded to meet growing electricity demand. It is adequately prepared to ensure a reliable power supply across regions.

The Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Act was recently passed by Parliament to strengthen the nuclear energy ecosystem.

This act will ensure the development of reliable power solutions for emerging sectors such as AI and data centres by supporting the future deployment of small, modular and micro nuclear reactors.

The water requirement of data centres depends on the type of cooling technologies deployed. Regulation and control of groundwater extraction, including for industrial purposes, is governed by the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Jal Shakti. To minimise water usage, the industry is adopting advanced cooling technologies such as direct-to-chip liquid cooling, adiabatic cooling and immersion cooling.

Industry is also deploying high-density racks to efficiently support high‑performance computing and AI workloads for further reduction of power and water consumption.