Reliance Plans ₹1.6 Lakh Crore AI Data Centre Cluster In Visakhapatnam

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) will invest about ₹1.6 lakh crore (over $17 billion) to set up a 1.5-gigawatt (GW) data centre cluster along with a captive solar and battery storage system in Visakhapatnam, people familiar with the matter said. The project has received approval from Andhra Pradesh’s Investment Promotion Committee, they added.

The proposed cluster is expected to be India’s largest. It will exceed Google’s planned 1-GW data centre project in the same region, which involves an investment of $15 billion. The approval comes at a time when states are competing to attract large artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud infrastructure projects.

At 9:47 am, Reliance Industries shares were trading at ₹1,364.40 a piece on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Project Details

RIL plans to build a giga-scale artificial intelligence (AI) data centre cluster in three phases. The company has sought about 935 acres for the facility. This includes 300 acres for the first phase and 635 acres for the second. It has also sought 1 acre for a cable landing station and 80 acres for a desalination plant, the people said.

In the first phase, RIL will set up a 500-megawatt (MW) data centre at Polipalli village. Commercial operations are expected to begin by October 2028. The second phase will add 1 GW capacity at Bhogapuram East and West by 2030. The full cluster will come up near the upcoming airport at Bhogapuram, close to Visakhapatnam.

RIL plans to invest around ₹1.08 lakh crore in the data centre cluster. An additional ₹51,300 crore will go into the renewable energy project tied to it. The solar facility, cleared by the state, will have a direct current capacity of 9,000 MW-peak and generate up to 6,600 MW of alternating current.

Visakhapatnam Emerges As Data Centre Hub

Note that, of late, Visakhapatnam is seeing a surge in data centre proposals. Google is set to formally launch its 1-GW project this week. Other companies have also announced large investments, including:

• Sify Technologies: 500 MW

• Digital Connexion: 1 GW

• Anant Raj Cloud: ~300 MW

• RMZ: 1 GW

• Tillman Global Holdings: 300 MW

In September 2025, Andhra Pradesh IT minister Nara Lokesh said the state aims to build 6 GW of data centre capacity. With signed agreements now totalling about 5.6 GW, RIL’s proposal moves the state closer to that target.

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Policy Push Drives Investments

To attract firms, Andhra Pradesh is offering incentives under its Data Centre Policy 4.0. These include:

• 100% reimbursement of state goods and services tax (GST) on capital goods.

• 10% capital subsidy on machinery.

• Deemed distribution licence for direct power procurement for projects above 300 MW.

The latest approval shows momentum in large-scale data centre investments. These are driven by rising demand for AI and cloud infrastructure.

Sources:

The Economic Times

Business Today