India's Data Centre Capacity Set to Quadruple by 2030 as AI Investment Surges
A $90 billion investment pipeline is transforming India into a global AI infrastructure hub, but power and water constraints loom.
India's data centre capacity is projected to quadruple from 1.5 GW in 2025 to 6.5 GW by 2030, driven by a $90 billion investment pipeline that marks the sector's shift to large-scale, AI-driven expansion.
Hyperscalers Lead the Charge
Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, and Google have announced combined investments of approximately $67.5 billion in India's data centre infrastructure. AWS committed $35 billion, Microsoft $17.5 billion, and Google $15 billion, according to multiple sources tracking individual commitments.
The momentum is already visible. India added 387 MW of IT capacity in 2025, a 103% year-on-year increase from 191 MW in 2024, according to Rubix Data Sciences and Savills India.
"India's data centre industry has moved past its early growth phase and is now in the middle of a large-scale, AI-driven investment cycle," said Tushar Bhaskar, President of Rubix Data Sciences.
Cost Advantage Fuels Development
Construction costs for data centres in India run 30-40% lower than in China and the United States, per the Rubix report. This cost advantage, combined with 5G rollout, UPI digital payments growth, and data localisation requirements, has attracted global hyperscalers seeking to establish regional hubs.
Yet India currently accounts for only 3-4% of global installed data centre capacity despite generating nearly 20% of the world's data, according to Rubix Data Sciences and Financial Times analysis via Nxtra.
Sustainability Challenges Mount
The rapid scaling creates significant resource pressures. Water consumption is projected to rise from approximately 150 billion litres annually to nearly 359 billion litres by 2030. Electricity demand from data centres is expected to reach 13.56 GW by 2031-32, according to Ministry of Power estimates cited in the Rubix report.
These figures put immense strain on power grids and water supplies in already stressed regions where most data centres cluster—Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, and the National Capital Region.
Strategic Positioning
The expansion positions India as a strategic global hub for cloud and AI workloads. However, industry estimates vary on final capacity: while Rubix projects 6.5 GW by 2030, some sources cite a range of 4.5-6.5 GW, with optimistic industry forecasts reaching 9-10 GW.
The investment pipeline itself shows similar variation. While Rubix and government estimates place it at approximately $90 billion, Express Computer reports committed investments between 2019-2025 exceeding $95 billion.
What remains certain is the scale of transformation underway. The question is whether India's power and water infrastructure can keep pace with an industry quadrupling in less than five years.