Meta signs first AI data center deal in India with Reliance

As tech companies contention to unafraid the computing powerfulness needed to bid and deploy AI systems, Meta is making its archetypal AI infrastructure stake successful India, striking a information halfway concern with conglomerate Reliance Industries successful a marketplace that is rapidly emerging arsenic a hub for AI infrastructure.

The partnership, announced connected Wednesday, volition spot Meta collaborate with Reliance connected a 168-megawatt AI-enabled information halfway successful Jamnagar, Gujarat, expanding a narration that has evolved from Meta’s multibillion-dollar concern successful Reliance’s Jio Platforms to a $100 cardinal associated venture launched past twelvemonth to make endeavor AI solutions for customers successful India and overseas markets.

The woody comes arsenic India cements its presumption arsenic a earthy destination for AI infrastructure investments, with tech giants seeking caller geographies for information centers amid soaring request for computing powerfulness to bid and deploy AI models. Companies including Microsoft, Amazon, Google, OpenAI, and Uber person precocious announced AI and unreality infrastructure investments successful the country, which has rapidly expanded its information halfway footprint successful caller years.

The unreserved into India extends beyond planetary exertion firms. Earlier this week, Blackstone-backed AirTrunk announced plans to invest $30 cardinal to physique 5 gigawatts of information halfway capacity successful the state by 2030, portion Indian conglomerates including Adani and Tata Consultancy Services person besides unveiled large information halfway enlargement plans aimed astatine supporting AI workloads.

New Delhi has sought to pull specified investments done argumentation incentives, including tax exemptions done 2047 for overseas unreality providers connected services sold overseas, truthful agelong arsenic those workloads are tally from Indian information centers.

India’s installed information halfway capableness has risen from about 375 megawatts successful 2020 to astir 1.5 gigawatts successful 2025, according to authorities data. Industry estimates task that fig could turn more than fivefold to implicit 8 gigawatts by the extremity of the decade, driven by unreality adoption, AI workloads, and rising request for section information processing.

The Meta-Reliance statement marks the latest section successful a narration that has steadily deepened since Meta invested $5.7 billion successful Jio Platforms successful 2020. Since then, the companies person expanded their collaboration crossed integer services, endeavor AI, and present the infrastructure underpinning next-generation AI systems.

As portion of the partnership, Meta is leasing capableness astatine Reliance’s caller Jamnagar facility, which the companies said volition beryllium powered by renewable vigor and cooled utilizing desalinated seawater. Meta has committed to covering the full outgo of the vigor and h2o required to enactment its operations there.

Reliance said the 168-megawatt installation volition acceptable wrong 2 years and tin beryllium expanded implicit time. Further, the information halfway volition besides enactment Meta’s planetary infrastructure and AI computing requirements, plugging India much straight into the company’s worldwide web of AI facilities.

Under the agreement, Reliance said it would supply end-to-end services ranging from plan and operation to renewable power, connectivity, and ongoing operations, a motion of the conglomerate’s ambitions to go a one-stop store for AI infrastructure among planetary exertion companies.

Separately, Meta said it had contracted astir 1 gigawatt of caller renewable vigor capableness successful India done agreements with CleanMax and Fourth Partner Energy, which volition supplement the renewable powerfulness supporting the Jamnagar facility.

The companies did not disclose the worth of the agreement, the benignant of AI workloads that volition tally from the facility, oregon whether Meta plans further AI infrastructure investments successful India.