Northeast region offers USD 100 billion data centre opportunity: MoS Telecom

Economic Times

23-05-2025

The Northeast region offers an opportunity to harbour USD 100 billion data centre opportunity due to its cool climate and potential for renewable energy solutions, minister of state for telecom Pemmasani Chandra Shekhar said on Friday. While speaking at Rising North East Investors Summit 2025, the minister said that under the regime of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, there have been investments of Rs 1.5 lakh crore in the last 10 years in digital and physical infrastructure in the region, especially more than Rs 50,000 crore has gone into the rural broadband project Bharatnet. "Given the cool climate and the possible renewable energy solutions, there is a USD 100 billion data centre opportunity in the northeastern region," Shekhar said. He said that though other regions may have better infrastructure, people and entrepreneurs in the northeast have imagination and a lot more creativity given the nature and living conditions in the region. The minister said that the northeast region has seen a sea change in the last 10 years. "Today, more than 90 per cent of the north-eastern region is covered by 4G, more than 70-80 per cent is 5G covered, almost 80 per cent of the rural households are covered with Bharatnet via fibre-optic network, and there are more than 80 parks operational in Guwahati, Shillong and Agartala, and there are hyperscale data centres, one being the Asia's largest is in Assam," Shekhar said.
He said that the government has started working with the 6G mission, quantum communications and satellite networks, so that every rural and remote area gets connected with high-quality and high-speed internet. "Infrastructure is only the hardware, the real story lies in the software, that is the people of northeast. This region boasts one of India's most literate, English-speaking and digitally inclined youth populations," the minister said. He said that the northeastern region has 200-plus languages with diverse cultural traditions, and it is important that we preserve and protect and promote all these cultural heritage. "We can build some of the best multi-lingual AI systems, creating digital archives of our folk songs, stories and traditional knowledge. This positions north-east India as the global leader in cultural AI applications," Shekhar said.
He said that the northeast shares borders with countries like China, Bangladesh, Myanmar etc. and it can take the advantage of being on the border to build cutting edge security AI systems, smart border monitoring, using AI-powered cameras and sensors that can revolutionise national security while providing thousands of high-tech jobs.