Latest news with #DataCentreEconomicZones
Economic Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Economic Times
MeitY jumpstarts talks on data centre policy to boost capacity
The ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) has restarted consultations on the draft national data centre policy, according to officials, as the government looks to sharpen its approach to wooing investments in such facilities in the policy, which aims to encourage setting up of data centres through single-window permissions, streamlining approvals, promoting domestic manufacturing and providing incentives, was announced in 2020 but never implemented. Last week, a limited stakeholder consultation held by the ministry in the national capital was attended by industry representatives, who have been asked to submit recommendations by this week, the officials said. "The existing policy was comprehensive. We have sought feedback on how to update it in line with how the sector has changed over the past five years," said one of the officials cited rapid expansion of the sector and AI-led growth have led to the need for having such facilities across the country, centrally planning for rising power consumption and coordinating with state governments, he said. Many of the features of the draft policy, such as single-window clearances, four dedicated Data Centre Economic Zones (DCEZs), and targeted incentives, have been discussed in recent meetings, said industry executives who participated at the last meeting. It aimed to make India a favorable destination for data centres by streamlining approvals, promoting domestic manufacturing and providing incentives. The government has partially adopted one of its key suggestions—granting infrastructure status to data centres with capacity of 5 MW or higher. "The government is keen on the DCEZs since it would help distribute the uneven spread of data centres, especially taking advantage of the many smaller edge data centres that are set to come up in interior locations," a person aware of the matter told ET. "It has given the example of India's first AI-based data centre park opening in Chhattisgarh's Naya Raipur in May." The DCEZ was envisioned to create an ecosystem of hyperscalers, cloud service providers, IT companies, R&D units and other allied industries at select locations. Tapping into states "Considering that at least 10 states have now brought in data centre policies, the government plans to adopt some of the elements of the various state data centre policies based on industry feedback," said an executive with a Mumbai-based data centre operator. Although Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal have rolled out the red carpet for data centres, nearly 80% of the total capacity is still in the large metros—Mumbai (41%), Chennai (23%) and Delhi NCR (14%), according to real estate services firm Colliers India.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
MeitY jumpstarts talks on data centre policy to boost capacity
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills The ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) has restarted consultations on the draft national data centre policy , according to officials, as the government looks to sharpen its approach to wooing investments in such facilities in the policy, which aims to encourage setting up of data centres through single-window permissions, streamlining approvals, promoting domestic manufacturing and providing incentives, was announced in 2020 but never week, a limited stakeholder consultation held by the ministry in the national capital was attended by industry representatives, who have been asked to submit recommendations by this week, the officials said."The existing policy was comprehensive. We have sought feedback on how to update it in line with how the sector has changed over the past five years," said one of the officials cited rapid expansion of the sector and AI-led growth have led to the need for having such facilities across the country, centrally planning for rising power consumption and coordinating with state governments, he of the features of the draft policy, such as single-window clearances, four dedicated Data Centre Economic Zones (DCEZs), and targeted incentives, have been discussed in recent meetings, said industry executives who participated at the last aimed to make India a favorable destination for data centres by streamlining approvals, promoting domestic manufacturing and providing incentives. The government has partially adopted one of its key suggestions—granting infrastructure status to data centres with capacity of 5 MW or higher."The government is keen on the DCEZs since it would help distribute the uneven spread of data centres, especially taking advantage of the many smaller edge data centres that are set to come up in interior locations," a person aware of the matter told ET. "It has given the example of India's first AI-based data centre park opening in Chhattisgarh's Naya Raipur in May."The DCEZ was envisioned to create an ecosystem of hyperscalers , cloud service providers, IT companies, R&D units and other allied industries at select locations."Considering that at least 10 states have now brought in data centre policies, the government plans to adopt some of the elements of the various state data centre policies based on industry feedback," said an executive with a Mumbai-based data centre operator. Although Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal have rolled out the red carpet for data centres, nearly 80% of the total capacity is still in the large metros—Mumbai (41%), Chennai (23%) and Delhi NCR (14%), according to real estate services firm Colliers India.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
08-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Can India keep up with AI's soaring demand for infra, GPUs, and talent?
As India races to stake its claim as a global artificial intelligence (AI) powerhouse, a new Deloitte report has cautioned that the country is staring at infrastructure gaps that could trip its ambitions. According to the report titled Attracting AI Data Centre Infrastructure Investment in India, the country will require an additional 45–50 million square feet of data centre real estate and 40–45 Terawatt Hours (TWH) of incremental power by 2030 to meet AI-driven demand. This is no minor obstacle. Despite generating 20 per cent of global data, India accounts for just 3 per cent of the world's data centre capacity currently. With generative AI (GenAI) models demanding massive computing power and storage, India's current infrastructure is underpowered and outpaced. India's data centre growth promising, but may fall short The report projected a near 44 per cent compound annual growth in India's data centre capacity over the next five years. But AI data centres are highly energy-intensive—training large language models can consume up to 500 megawatt-hours per model, equivalent to the monthly usage of 150 US homes. India's dependence on non-renewable energy—still around 55 per cent—adds to sustainability concerns. The report calls for a national policy on renewable incentives, grid modernisation, and captive power infrastructure. Regulatory delays and land hurdles stall data centre growth While India offers cost advantages in land and labour, acquiring land for large-scale centres remains slow and complex. Deloitte recommends setting up Data Centre Economic Zones (DCEZs) and Data Centre Facilitation Units (DCFUs) with single-window clearance. It also suggests classifying data centres as 'essential services' under the Essential Services Maintenance Act to ensure round-the-clock operations. GPU scarcity threatens AI compute capacity in India India's AI goals are also challenged by a severe GPU shortage—the computational backbone of GenAI. The US AI Diffusion Framework limits India's import of Nvidia H100-class GPUs to 50,000 units until 2027, which could throttle progress. Deloitte urges GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS) platforms and government-to-government (G2G) dialogue to overcome this bottleneck. AI workforce growing, but R&D and training still lag While India's AI workforce is projected to hit 1.35 million by 2027, the report flags a shortage of skilled professionals and dedicated R&D institutions. Deloitte calls for AI-specific training programmes, academic partnerships, and visa incentives to address the gap. Rural and Tier-2 areas also lag in fibre connectivity, suffering high latency and poor bandwidth. The report recommends relaxing dark fibre regulations and allowing custom network infrastructure. India's AI push gains momentum with local data storage India has attracted $29.6 billion in AI investments between 2013 and 2024—still dwarfed by the US and China—but the momentum is building. Over 1,300 AI companies and a rapidly growing GenAI startup ecosystem put India in a strong position—if it can bridge its infra gap. One step forward came on May 8, when OpenAI announced Indian user data from ChatGPT Enterprise, Edu, and API platforms will be stored locally to align with data sovereignty rules. Policy support and infra upgrades key to India's AI future 'For India to accelerate its AI capabilities and realise its potential, it is necessary to introduce enabling policies to support the sector,' said S Anjani Kumar, partner at Deloitte India. He added that India must build AI-ready infrastructure, invest in vernacular datasets, improve talent pipelines, and strengthen research and development to stay competitive in the global AI race.
