Meta makes first AI infrastructure bet in India with Reliance

On Wednesday, Meta announced a partnership with Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries to build a 168-megawatt AI-enabled data center—a facility optimized for artificial intelligence workloads—in Jamnagar. The project represents Meta’s first AI infrastructure investment in India. Under the agreement, Reliance will provide end-to-end services, including design, construction, renewable power, connectivity, and ongoing operations. Meta is leasing capacity at the Jamnagar facility, which will support its global infrastructure and AI computing requirements, connecting India to the company’s worldwide network of AI facilities.

The partnership comes as India establishes itself as a destination for global AI infrastructure. The country’s data center capacity has expanded significantly in recent years, and industry estimates project that this capacity could grow to over 8 gigawatts by the end of the decade. The growth trajectory of India’s installed data center capacity highlights this shift:

• In 2020, capacity stood at about 375 megawatts.
• By 2025, capacity reached around 1.5 gigawatts.
• By 2030, capacity is projected to reach over 8 gigawatts.

To support its operations, Meta has contracted nearly 1 gigawatt of new renewable energy capacity in India through agreements with CleanMax and Fourth Partner Energy. This clean energy will supplement the renewable power supporting the Jamnagar facility. The broader Indian market is seeing intense competition for AI workloads. For instance, market competitor AirTrunk recently announced plans to invest $30 billion to build 5 gigawatts of data center capacity in India by 2030. Other local competitors, including Adani and Tata Consultancy Services, have also unveiled major data center expansion plans.

This new infrastructure agreement deepens a long-standing relationship between Meta and Reliance. The collaboration began in 2020 when Meta made a $5.7 billion investment in Jio Platforms, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries. Last year, the two companies also launched a separate $100 million joint venture to develop enterprise AI solutions for customers in India and overseas markets. The new Jamnagar data center deal represents a distinct expansion of this partnership into physical infrastructure.

Why it matters

Meta is making its first AI infrastructure bet in India, striking a data center partnership with conglomerate Reliance Industries in a market that is rapidly emerging as a hub for AI infrastructure.