According to Deloitte’s recent report, India’s AI surge will require 45–50 million sq ft more data centre real estate and 40–45 TWh of additional power by 2030. This is crucial for India’s rapidly growing AI market, which is expected to hit $20–22 billion by 2027, especially given the current disparity where India holds 20% of the world’s data but only 3% of global data centre capacity.

Launched at a NITI Aayog workshop, a Deloitte report highlights India’s strengths (cost, renewables, location) for AI data centres but warns that becoming a global AI hub requires addressing gaps in infrastructure, talent, and policy.

According to the report, six key areas are crucial for establishing India’s strong AI foundation: real estate, power, connectivity, compute infrastructure, talent, and policy.

To boost data centre building, Deloitte suggests policy changes like treating them as essential services and giving them their own building rules.

The report urges policies to fast-track data centre approvals via dedicated units, clear data localisation, and specialised zones.

The report stated that, “Additionally, amending data access provisions under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, to reflect data centres’ operational realities and excluding data centres from surveillance scopes under the Telecommunication Act, 2023, will provide key policy support required for boosting India’s data centre capacity. “Moreover, implementing safe harbour rules for data hosting service providers and establishing data embassies will catalyse investment and spearhead India’s data centre revolution”.

Deloitte highlights that urgent investment in power sources and infrastructure, including renewables, is needed to stop India’s fast-growing AI data centres from overloading the power grid.

Source:

https://telecomtalk.info/india-ai-real-estate-datacentres-by2030-deloitte/994084/