(Reuters) – Tech giant Meta has deepened its presence in India by partnering with billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries to establish its first artificial intelligence-enabled data centre in the country, underscoring India’s growing importance in the global AI landscape.
Under the agreement announced on Wednesday, Reliance Industries will develop the facility in Jamnagar, located in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The data centre will have an initial capacity of 168 megawatts and will be leased by Meta, with provisions that allow the social media company to expand its operations as demand increases.
The move reflects Meta’s increasing focus on India, which the company described as an attractive destination for long-term investment due to its vast user base and rapidly expanding digital economy.
With hundreds of millions of users across Meta-owned platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, India represents one of the company’s largest markets worldwide. The country’s accelerating adoption of digital services and artificial intelligence technologies has further strengthened its appeal to major global technology firms.
Industry analysts believe the investment highlights India’s emergence as a strategic hub for data infrastructure. According to consulting firm IMARC Group, India’s data centre market is expected to nearly double in size, reaching an estimated value of $13.11 billion by 2034. The projected growth is being driven by ongoing digital transformation, wider cloud adoption and rising demand for AI-powered applications.
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The latest collaboration also builds on the growing relationship between Meta and Reliance Industries.
In August last year, the two companies announced a joint venture aimed at developing artificial intelligence platforms and enterprise tools tailored to the Indian market using Meta’s Llama AI models. The initiative involved an initial investment of 8.55 billion Indian rupees (approximately $89.67 million), with Reliance contributing 70% of the funding and Meta accounting for the remaining 30%.
The partnership between the two corporate giants dates back even further. In 2020, Meta invested $5.7 billion in Jio Platforms, the digital arm of Reliance Industries, marking one of the largest foreign investments in India’s technology sector.
As competition intensifies in the global AI race, Meta’s decision to establish its first AI-focused data centre in India signals confidence in the country’s technological potential and its ability to support the next generation of digital innovation.
The development is also expected to strengthen India’s ambitions of becoming a major player in artificial intelligence infrastructure while creating new opportunities for businesses seeking advanced AI solutions.
