Adani pledges $100B to build AI data centers as India seeks bigger role in the global AI race

<p id="speakable-summary" class="wp-block-paragraph">Indian conglomerate Adani Group said on Monday it would invest $100 billion over the next decade to build data centers specialized for AI across the country, a move that underscores India’s ambition to play a larger role in the global AI race.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The investment, which will run through 2035, is aimed at building renewable-energy-powered data centers designed to support AI workloads, the company said. It expects the plan to catalyze an additional $150 billion in related investments and result in a $250 billion AI infrastructure ecosystem in India over the decade.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Adani is making this commitment against a backdrop of <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/28/the-ai-infrastructure-boom-shows-no-sign-of-slowing-down/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">skyrocketing investments in AI infrastructure</a> as companies increasingly look beyond the U.S. for computing power, energy, and friendly regulation. India, with its expanding digital economy and growing renewable-energy capacity, has <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/23/reliance-plans-world-biggest-ai-data-centre-in-india-report-says/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">emerged as a major destination for data centers</a> and <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2025/11/20/indias-tcs-gets-tpg-to-fund-half-of-2b-ai-data-center-project/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AI-related infrastructure</a> over the past couple of years.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The announcement coincides with India’s ongoing <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/16/all-the-important-news-from-the-ongoing-india-ai-summit/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AI Impact Summit</a> in New Delhi this week, where leaders from some of the world’s top AI companies, including OpenAI, Nvidia, Anthropic, Microsoft, and Google, are meeting policymakers and industry executives.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani (pictured above) described the plan as a long-term bet on the convergence of energy and computing. “India will not be a mere consumer in the AI age,” he said, adding that the group aims to help build a domestic AI infrastructure base.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The plan is to build atop Adani’s own existing data-center platform and its partnerships with companies like Google and Microsoft. The conglomerate is developing large-scale AI data-center campuses in <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2025/10/14/google-to-invest-15b-in-indian-ai-infrastructure-hub/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Visakhapatnam</a> and Noida, and has plans for more facilities in Hyderabad and Pune. An expanded partnership with Walmart-owned Flipkart will focus on another AI data center.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Adani said the broader plan calls for deploying up to 5 gigawatts of data-center capacity. The company said the facilities will be developed as a unified system that would scale power generation and processing capacity in parallel.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The effort builds on AdaniConneX, a joint venture between Adani Enterprises and U.S.-based EdgeConneX, a developer and operator of data centers for hyperscale and enterprise customers. The JV, Adani said, has already developed about 2 gigawatts of data-center capacity across India.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Central to the strategy is Adani’s renewable-energy portfolio, which the group said will supply carbon-neutral power to the data centers. The company pointed to its 30-gigawatt Khavda renewable project in western India — more than 10 gigawatts of which is already operational — and said it plans to invest an additional $55 billion to expand renewable generation and battery energy storage over the coming years.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">To reduce exposure to global supply-chain disruptions, Adani said it plans to co-invest in domestic manufacturing of critical components, such as transformers, power electronics and thermal management systems.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Adani did not respond to questions about how much of the $100 billion investment is already committed capital, how the spending will be phased over the coming years, and when the first large-scale AI workloads are expected to become operational.</p>