India is accelerating its push to become a global artificial intelligence hub, with a target of attracting $200 billion in data center investments.
A senior Indian federal minister stated that the country expects to draw over $200 billion in AI-driven investments within the next two years. This highlights the ambitions of the world's most populous nation in this emerging technological field.
The Modi administration has designed a five-layer framework encompassing applications, AI models, computing power, data centers and network infrastructure, and energy. The framework aims to achieve widespread technology adoption and enable large-scale deployment.
At the AI Impact Summit held in Delhi, Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, "Investments are flowing into all five layers of the AI technology stack. We are seeing venture capital firms funding deep-tech startups, financing large-scale solutions and applications, and investing in further research for cutting-edge models."
New Delhi launched the India AI Summit on Monday, with Prime Minister Modi scheduled to speak on Thursday. The event will be attended by more than a dozen heads of state, including those from France and Brazil, alongside influential leaders from the tech industry—from OpenAI's Sam Altman and Alphabet's Sundar Pichai to Anthropic's Dario Amodei.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, who was widely expected to attend the summit in New Delhi, later canceled his trip. Minister Vaishnaw indicated that Huang was unable to attend due to "unavoidable" circumstances but added that the U.S. tech giant is collaborating with Indian companies on substantial investments in AI infrastructure and local software firms. No specific details were disclosed.
Additionally, India's Adani Group announced plans to invest $100 billion by 2035 to develop AI data centers powered by renewable energy, with the goal of building the world's largest integrated data center platform. Adani stated that as India strives to secure a stronger position in the global AI race, this massive investment is projected to create a $250 billion AI infrastructure ecosystem for the country over the next decade.
The company noted that this initiative is also expected to spur an additional $15 billion in spending on server manufacturing, sovereign cloud platforms, and supporting industries.
Adani mentioned that its vision is supported by a strategic partnership with Alphabet. The multinational conglomerate added that it is also in discussions with other major players to establish large-scale campuses across India, though no further details were provided. Alphabet had previously stated in October of last year that it would invest $1.5 billion over five years to build an AI data center hub in southern India.
The conglomerate, whose businesses span from ports to power, stated that it will build upon its existing 2 GW data center capacity, expanding it to 5 GW to create the world's largest integrated data center platform. However, no specific timeline was given.