Gautam Adani, the billionaire behind the Adani Group, is set to expand his company’s investment in data centers by an additional $10 billion, capitalizing on the surge in demand driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and business process outsourcing. According to sources familiar with the matter, the ambitious plan involves the construction of two large data centers in India, each with a capacity of approximately 1 gigawatt (GW). The proposed sites for these centers are in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu, though the exact locations remain under wraps as discussions are still ongoing.
This massive expansion aligns with Adani Group’s long-term vision to scale its data center portfolio to a total of 10 GW, further solidifying the company’s position in the booming digital infrastructure market. The Adani Group is reportedly eyeing business from foreign governments, particularly focusing on securing government-to-government contracts, with land acquisition already in progress.
The announcement follows a similar move by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd., which revealed plans in February to build a 1 GW data center in Gujarat’s Jamnagar town. Adani’s decision to accelerate its investment in this sector follows a $5.9 billion commitment made last year by Adani Enterprises Ltd. to develop data center infrastructure in Maharashtra, highlighting the group’s determination to capture a significant share of India’s growing digital economy.
Despite a global slowdown in data center construction, where companies like Microsoft are reassessing their AI and cloud infrastructure plans, Indian billionaires like Adani are continuing to invest heavily in this sector. Adani’s aggressive expansion comes as the demand for data centers in India outpaces supply, driven in part by the country’s growing presence in global business process outsourcing (BPO). In fact, India saw a record 77.2 million square feet of office space leasing last year, primarily to global capability centers handling offshore business processes.
While the largest data centers in the world are in the US, many of them owned by tech giants, India’s current largest facilities have less than 1 GW of capacity, according to industry research firm DC Byte. With these new investments, Adani is positioning his group to meet the increasing demand for digital infrastructure in India, which is poised to become the world’s most populous country.
Despite facing challenges in the past, such as the aftermath of a 2023 report from short-seller Hindenburg Research and investigations by the US Department of Justice, the Adani Group remains bullish on its growth prospects. The conglomerate also has a 50:50 joint venture with global data center provider EdgeConnex Inc. through AdaniConnex Pvt., which is already operational in cities like Chennai and Hyderabad, with ongoing developments in Mumbai and Pune.
