HCLTech is significantly expanding its data centre ambitions with a ₹142.57 billion AI facility in Odisha that will combine its full-stack AI capabilities with Sarvam AI’s foundation models.
HCLTech will invest ₹142.57 billion to establish its first artificial intelligence (AI) data centre in Odisha, marking the Indian IT services major’s entry into the data centre business. The project will be developed in partnership with Indian AI startup Sarvam AI and will receive financial support from the Odisha government.
The proposed facility will combine HCLTech’s full-stack AI capabilities with Sarvam AI’s indigenous foundation models. The companies plan to develop sector-specific AI applications for government organisations as well as private enterprises.
The investment comes shortly after HCLTech announced plans to enter the data centre market with an initial investment of ₹35 billion. The company is now significantly scaling up its plans as demand for AI infrastructure continues to grow.
The rapid adoption of generative AI has triggered a global surge in investments in data centres, which require substantial computing capacity and power. India is emerging as an attractive destination for such facilities due to its large digital user base and relatively competitive operating and energy costs.
HCLTech’s project will also add to the growing competition in India’s AI infrastructure space. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the country’s largest IT services company, announced in November that it would invest $2 billion to build AI-focused data centres in collaboration with private equity firm TPG.
With enterprises and government bodies increasingly adopting AI-based applications, technology companies are stepping up investments in domestic computing infrastructure and locally developed AI models.
