Reliance and global partners unveil $11bn AI data project in India

Reliance Industries and its joint-venture partners will invest USD 11 billion over five years to build one gigawatt of artificial intelligence data capacity in Andhra Pradesh, the companies and the state government said on Wednesday. Reuters reported that the venture, called Digital Connexion, includes Canada’s Brookfield Corporation and US-based data-centre operator Digital Realty.

The investment will support the development of an AI-native data centre campus spread across 400 acres in Visakhapatnam. The facility aims to meet soaring demand for high-density computing as global companies accelerate spending on AI infrastructure.

The announcement comes amid a surge of activity in India’s data-centre sector. In October, Google disclosed plans to build AI data capacity in Visakhapatnam over the next five years, describing it as its largest AI hub outside the United States. Industry analysts say the rapid adoption of generative AI has triggered unprecedented demand for compute power, pushing companies worldwide to expand data-centre footprints at record pace.

India is emerging as a focal point for this expansion. Real-estate consultancy Colliers has projected that the country’s total data-centre capacity will more than triple to 4.5 gigawatts by 2030, driven by cloud adoption, digitisation and favourable policy incentives.

The investment by Digital Connexion adds to similar moves by Indian technology majors. Last week, Tata Consultancy Services announced a partnership with private equity group TPG to invest USD 2 billion in equity for a new joint venture focused on building AI data centres.

For Reliance, the venture strengthens its position in India’s digital infrastructure build-out, complementing its existing telecom, cloud and enterprise-technology businesses. For Brookfield and Digital Realty, it extends their portfolios into one of the world’s fastest-growing data-centre markets.

The Andhra Pradesh government said the project would support job creation and position Visakhapatnam as a major AI and digital-compute hub. With global firms accelerating deployment of AI infrastructure, analysts expect India to attract increasing capital as companies seek new markets with stable power supply, land availability and supportive regulatory frameworks.

Digital Connexion’s investment marks one of the largest commitments to AI infrastructure in India to date, signalling that competition to build next-generation data capacity is set to intensify.