Meta Platforms, the American technology company that owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, will collaborate with the Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries to build its first artificial intelligence data center in India.
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT META’S DATA CENTER IN INDIA
Reliance will handle the construction of the data center, which will have a capacity of 168 megawatts and will be located in Jamnagar, a city in western India that already hosts a huge oil refinery owned by the conglomerate. The infrastructure will then be leased to Meta.
The financial details of the project have not been disclosed. However, we know that Meta has promised a “long-term investment in the Indian economy” and has also signed a renewable energy supply contract with Clean Max Enviro for 837 MW.
THE COLLABORATION WITH RELIANCE
The partnership between Meta and Reliance is not new but dates back to 2020, when Facebook’s parent company invested 5.7 billion in Jio Platforms, Reliance’s division dedicated to technology and telecommunications.
THE IMPORTANCE OF INDIA FOR TECH COMPANIES
Before Meta, India had already received substantial infrastructure investments from other Big Tech companies, such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Google. These companies – and not only them – are interested in establishing data centers in the country to promote the spread of their artificial intelligence-based products and services and to expand in a vast market: India is the most populous nation in the world and has nearly one billion internet users.
OpenAi as well – which is not exactly a Big Tech company despite having reached a valuation of 852 billion dollars – is focusing on India: in February, it announced a collaboration with the Tata conglomerate to build a data center with a capacity of 100 MW, potentially expandable up to 1 gigawatt.
ASML ALSO MOVES INTO INDIA
About a month ago, Tata signed an agreement with the Dutch company Asml to build the first 300-millimeter semiconductor factory – the most advanced industrial standard – in India, in the state of Gujarat. The devices produced at the plant, which required an investment of 11 billion, will be destined for the automotive industry, consumer electronics, and artificial intelligence infrastructure.
