With Google and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) unveiling massive, gigawatt-scale data centre projects within days of each other, a new phase in AI and cloud infrastructure build-out has begun, which analysts say, could redefine the country’s digital backbone.
TCS last week announced a $7-billion plan to develop a network of data centres under a new subsidiary focused on artificial intelligence (AI) and sovereign data infrastructure. This week, Google followed with an even larger $15-billion commitment to establish its biggest AI hub outside of the US, in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
The two companies join industry heavyweights such as Reliance Industries, AdaniConneX, and Bharti Airtel – the last are also partners in Google’s project — along with a growing cohort of infrastructure specialists, including Sify, Yotta Infrastructure, STT Telemedia, CtrlS Datacenters, CapitaLand, and ESDS Software. The competition is centred on meeting the rising demand for computing power, AI workload and data localisation.
Analysts describe the scale of ambition as unprecedented. CtrlS is building a 500 MW AI-focused campus in Hyderabad, among the largest of its kind in Asia, while Yotta, STT, and AdaniConneX are rapidly expanding across Mumbai, Chennai, and Pune. Singapore-based CapitaLand and ESDS Software are also ramping up investments.
The entry of Google and TCS adds fresh momentum to this race. Their projects together are comparable to the country’s current total installed capacity and will be rolled out over the next 5-7 years.
Before these announcements, Colliers had estimated that India’s total data centre capacity would more than triple to 4.5 gigawatt by 2030, driven by $20-25 billion in investments over the next 5-6 years. Now, with the new commitments, both capacity and investment projections are set to rise further.
Analysts said the expansion reflects the explosion in data-intensive technologies such as cloud computing, 5G and AI, as well as policy measures encouraging domestic data storage and processing.
TCS’ new subsidiary will focus on AI and sovereign data centres, catering to hyperscalers, enterprises, and government clients seeking compliant, high-performance infrastructure. The initiative is designed to deliver services across the full AI stack ranging from compute infrastructure to next-generation applications.
Google’s AI hub, meanwhile, will include advanced compute systems, new transmission lines, and innovative energy storage solutions, positioning it among the most sustainable digital infrastructure projects globally.
Sector experts noted that this surge in domestic capacity aligns with the government’s draft rules under the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, released in January and awaiting finalisation. Contrary to earlier expectations of strict localisation, the draft has adopted a balanced approach.
A specialised committee will determine which categories of personal data must stay within the country’s borders, while companies processing data overseas will have to comply with conditions specified through official notifications.
Analysts said this calibrated stance of allowing cross-border data processing under defined safeguards, could enhance investor confidence among both domestic and global players.
Companies are expected to accelerate local capacity creation to meet regulatory thresholds, strengthen data security, and reduce latency for AI workload. Other provisions of the DPDP draft, such as mandatory annual data protection impact assessments, strict breach-reporting timelines, and parental consent norms for minors’ data, are likely to raise compliance requirements but also strengthen trust and transparency across digital ecosystems.
For data centre operators, analysts said, this could prove an opportunity rather than a challenge, as clients increasingly demand secure, regulation-ready infrastructure housed within the country. “The DPDP Act could catalyse a data centre boom much bigger than the RBI’s 2018 directive, which was limited to payment data,” said Prakash Kamalakannan, senior security researcher at Acronis Threat Research Unit.