Meta said on Tuesday it has agreed with Reliance Industries (RIL) to lease its first artificial intelligence-enabled data centre in India, which is a significant expansion of the companies’ long-standing strategic partnership.
The data centre will be built by Reliance in Jamnagar in the western state of Gujarat and will have an initial capacity of 168 megawatts, with options to scale further, the companies said in a statement. Meta will lease the facility to support its products and AI capabilities, bringing computing infrastructure closer to one of its fastest-growing user bases globally.
The investment shows Meta’s growing focus on India as it ramps up global AI infrastructure to support generative AI and future “personal superintelligence” offerings, the company said.
“We’re proud to be working with Reliance to build our first AI-enabled data centre in India,” Meta Founder and Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said. “This world-class facility in Jamnagar will help us scale our AI infrastructure globally while deepening our long-term investment in India’s economy.”
Reliance said the Jamnagar site is part of what it is developing into one of the world’s largest data centre campuses, with access to the energy resources required to power advanced AI infrastructure. The facility will be powered by renewable energy and cooled using desalinated seawater, with Meta covering the full cost of the energy and water used.
“This partnership with Meta marks a transformative moment for India’s digital infrastructure,” Reliance Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh D. Ambani said, adding that the project reflects India’s readiness to play a leading role in the global AI ecosystem.
Meta also said it has separately contracted close to 1 gigawatt of new renewable energy capacity in India as part of the expansion. This includes 837 megawatts of solar and wind projects with CleanMax and 88 megawatts across multiple states with Fourth Partner Energy.
The data centre agreement builds on Meta and Reliance’s multi-year partnership, which began with Meta’s USD 5.7 billion investment in Jio Platforms in 2020 and has since expanded into connectivity, commerce and enterprise AI initiatives in India. |
