ADANI GROUP said on Tuesday it plans to invest $100 billion by 2035 to develop “hyperscale AI-ready data centres”, in a boost to New Delhi’s push to become a global artificial intelligence hub.
The announcement comes as India hosts a five-day global AI summit, where issues ranging from job disruption to child safety will be discussed.
The summit will bring together 20 national leaders and 45 ministerial-level delegations, with the key day on Thursday. Tech CEOs, including Sam Altman of OpenAI and Google’s Sundar Pichai, are also expected.
In a statement, the Adani Group said the $100 billion investment would catalyse an additional $150 billion in spending across “server manufacturing, advanced electrical infrastructure, sovereign cloud platforms and supporting industries”.
“Together, this is projected to create a $250 billion AI infrastructure ecosystem in India over the decade,” the statement said.
The ports-to-power conglomerate said its vision is “anchored” by key partnerships with Google and Microsoft.
The statement said Google aims to establish a massive data centre campus in the coastal city of Visakhapatnam.
“The Adani Group is also in discussion with other major players seeking to establish large-scale campuses across India, thereby further cementing its position as India’s premier AI infrastructure partner,” it added.
Last year, India rose to third place in an annual global ranking of AI competitiveness calculated by Stanford University researchers, overtaking South Korea and Japan.
However, experts say India still has a long way to go before it can rival the United States and China, despite plans for large-scale infrastructure and ambitions for innovation.
