Meta has partnered with Reliance Industries to lease its first AI-enabled data centre in India. Notably, Reliance will be building a data centre with 168MW capacity in Gujarat's Jamnagar, which will then be leased by Meta to power its products and AI.
Meta says the new data centre will be powered by renewable energy and cooled using desalinated seawater. The Menlo Park, California-based company will cover the full cost of the energy and water required to operate the site.
"We're proud to be working with Reliance to build our first AI-enabled data centre in India. This world-class facility in Jamnagar will help us scale our AI infrastructure globally while deepening our long-term investment in India's economy," Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement.
As per a Reuters report, citing consulting firm IMARC Group, India's data centre market is projected to nearly double to $13.11 billion by 2034, fuelled by increasing cloud adoption, digital transformation initiatives, and rising demand for AI computing capacity.
Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani said in a statement, “This partnership with Meta marks a transformative moment for India’s digital infrastructure. Building India’s first built-to-suit AI data centre for a global technology leader of Meta’s scale demonstrates India’s readiness to be at the forefront of the global AI revolution. At Reliance, we are committed to building world-class digital infrastructure that will power the next generation of AI innovation, not just for India, but for the world.”
Notably, Meta rival OpenAI had also announced its plan to lease 100MW of capacity from Tata Group earlier this year to run its AI models with lower latency and meet data compliance guidelines in India. The company had then said that there is potential to scale up the requirement to as much as 1GW.
Meanwhile, Google also announced its plans last year to set up a $15 billion, 1-gigawatt (GW) AI hub in Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam.
As per a Bloomberg report, India is set to receive a combined $52 billion in investments from Amazon and Microsoft.
Meta-Reliance partnership:
Meta had earlier formed a joint venture with Reliance last year called Reliance Enterprise Intelligence Limited (REIL) to bring the tech giant's Llama AI models to Indian developers and enterprises.
Reliance and Meta committed a cumulative ₹855 crore to the JV, with Mukesh Ambani's company holding a 70% stake and Meta owning the remaining 30%.
Meta also invested $5.7 billion in Jio Platforms in 2020, giving it a 9.99% stake in the company.
Meta commits to clean energy initiatives:
Apart from the data centre announcement, Meta also committed to creating nearly 1 gigawatt (GW) of renewable energy capacity in India.
The company has signed agreements with CleanMax and Fourth Partner Energy to develop new solar and wind projects across different states.
The agreement with CleanMax is for generating 837MW of new solar and wind projects in Rajasthan and Karnataka. Meanwhile, the partnership with Fourth Partner Energy is for creating 88MW of projects across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh.
