Data Centres and the Cloud
The Future of India's Digital Infrastructure
Where India's data centre industry is heading - AI, green power, sovereign cloud and edge computing - and a recap of the module.
Data centres are becoming core infrastructure for India’s economy.
Trends
- AI driving demand for high-power facilities.
- Green power and efficient cooling.
- Sovereign cloud for government and sensitive data.
- Edge computing in smaller cities.
- Nuclear and storage for round-the-clock power in future.
Challenges
- Power grid capacity and reliability.
- Water in stressed cities.
- GPU and equipment imports.
- Skills.
Policy
A national data centre policy has been drafted to guide incentives and infrastructure status.
Module recap
- Data centres house servers, cooling and backup power.
- India’s capacity is growing rapidly.
- The cloud rents computing on demand.
- Power is the biggest cost; PUE measures efficiency.
- Cooling uses water in stressed cities.
- AI demands vast compute; IndiaAI subsidises GPUs.
- Edge centres cut latency in smaller cities.
- Data localisation rules boost local centres.
- Hyperscalers are investing billions.
- Location depends on power, connectivity and risk.
- Data centres create few permanent jobs.
The AI campus
A future data centre campus runs on solar, wind and storage, with liquid-cooled AI servers serving Indian-language AI models.
Thinking digital growth needs no physical infrastructure
Data centres, power and cables are essential.
Key takeaways
- AI, green power and sovereign cloud shape the future.
- Power, water and skills are challenges.
- Policy aims to support the industry.
- Digital growth depends on physical infrastructure.
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