The Adani Group has proposed a massive ₹1 trillion investment for a hyperscale AI data centre in Odisha, according to reports from Business Standard. The facility would be among the largest data centre projects in India and would trail only Google's intended Andhra Pradesh project in scale. The conglomerate has sought around 250 acres of land from the state government for the project, which, if approved, would place Odisha at the forefront of India's rapidly expanding AI and digital infrastructure ecosystem.
The proposal is currently under detailed evaluation by the state government, as reported by Business Standard. Officials are examining infrastructure requirements including land availability, power supply, water connectivity, and network connectivity. The tentative location for the project could be Cuttack (now Kataka), though this has not yet been finalised. The company has proposed the Odisha AI data centre as a standalone investment and not as a joint venture, requesting considerable incentives from the state government.
India's proposed data centres are projected to create nearly 4.33 lakh ecosystem jobs, according to latest reports from The Economic Times. The current investment pipeline for data centres stands at approximately ₹90 billion, with India's data centre capacity projected to more than double by 2025. Data centres are now the second-largest investment recipient, attracting substantial institutional capital as rapid AI adoption and cloud expansion fuel investor interest in digital infrastructure assets. The expansion is expected to generate substantial residential space demand by 2030, with Maharashtra and Karnataka seeing significant residential demand growth.
The proposed investment rivals some of the world's biggest AI infrastructure projects, with technology giant Google building a 1 GW AI data centre in Visakhapatnam with an estimated investment of $15 billion. Additionally, Reliance Industries has proposed setting up a gigascale AI data centre and cable landing station in Andhra Pradesh with an investment of ₹1.08 trillion, with the state government already allotting 856 acres of land in Vizianagaram district. According to industry estimates, India's operational data centre capacity has crossed 1.5 GW, while the near-term pipeline stands at another 3 GW.
The Odisha government is extending all possible facilitation to large investments in sunrise sectors such as AI, electronics, semiconductor, and digital infrastructure, as reported by Business Standard. The state is emerging as a digital infrastructure destination, leveraging abundant land availability, power infrastructure, connectivity along the eastern coast, and favourable policies. Among existing projects, the Reserve Bank of India's data centre is nearing completion with an investment of ₹169 crore, while the state government is setting up its own next-generation data centre at a cost of ₹266.48 crore.
