Rewrites throughout

By Urvi Dugar and Abinaya V

Feb 17 (Reuters) - Adani Enterprises ADEL.NS said on Tuesday that it will invest $100 billion to build renewable-powered AI-ready data centres by 2035, positioning India as a contender in the global AI race.

India has seen a surge in big-ticket AI infrastructure spending, with global players like Google GOOGL.O, Amazon AMZN.O, Meta Platforms META.O and Microsoft MSFT.O ramping up investments along with domestic companies such as Reliance RELI.NS and TCS TCS.NS.

"AI-ready data centres would be a critical nerve centre of the AI-driven environment and it's natural that large groups with deep pockets will get future-ready by setting up such data centres," said Ambareesh Baliga, an independent market analyst.

Top firms, including Reliance and the Adani Group, are moving quickly to capture the vast opportunities as businesses align themselves with what is seen as a major disruptor ahead, he added.

Adani said that the investment is expected to trigger an additional $150 billion across related industries including server manufacturing and sovereign cloud platforms. Together, this is projected to create a $250 billion AI infrastructure ecosystem in India over the decade, it added.

Shares of Adani Enterprises closed 2.7% higher, making the stock the top gainer on the benchmark Nifty 50 index .NSEI.

INDIA-AI BOOM

Having been on the periphery of the AI boom so far due to the absence of any significant chip manufacturing capability, data centres represent India's best chance of making a mark on the global stage.

The investment will develop a model linking renewable energy, power grid resilience and AI computing, according to Adani.

"For decades, we imported technology. Now we are building the backbone," Chairman Gautam Adani said in a post on X.

"India will not follow the AI century. India will shape it".

The ports-to-power conglomerate will build on its existing 2 gigawatt data centre capacity and scale it to 5 GW to create the world's largest integrated data centre platform, it said, without providing a timeline.

Additionally, Adani will invest $55 billion to expand its renewable energy portfolio, which will include one of the world's largest battery energy storage systems.

AI PARTNERSHIPS

Adani has an existing partnership with Google, which has pledged to invest $15 billion over five years to build an AI data centre, its biggest ever investment in India.

The company said on Tuesday it will expand its existing partnership with Walmart WMT.O-backed Flipkart to develop a second AI data centre.

It is also in discussions with other major players to establish large-scale campuses across India, it said, without disclosing further details.

(Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru; Writing by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan; Editing by Sonia Cheema)

((UrviManoj.Dugar@thomsonreuters.com; +91 9558725583;))