India’s renewable energy suppliers could see a sharp rise in demand from data centre operators as artificial intelligence infrastructure expands and companies seek alternative markets. Public backlash in the US against resource-intensive facilities and risks linked to the West Asia conflict are also increasing India’s appeal as a destination for data centre investment.

Kuldeep Jain, managing director and founder of CleanMax Enviro Energy Solutions, estimated that 5 GW of data centre capacity in India would require about 30-40 GW of renewable power. He said the green energy needed to support artificial intelligence infrastructure was significantly underestimated, indicating that demand could exceed available supply.

India has introduced power tariff subsidies, tax incentives and faster land clearances to attract data centre companies. BloombergNEF ranks the country as the leading data centre development market in the Asia-Pacific region outside China. Jain also pointed to the damage caused to two Amazon data centres in Bahrain by an Iranian strike in July as an example of the risks facing operators.

Supporting the projected expansion will require substantial investment in renewable generation and energy storage. CleanMax is adding about 1.5 GW of solar and wind capacity annually, with yearly capital expenditure of up to Rs. 90 bn. Jain estimated that powering a 1 GW artificial intelligence data centre with 75 per cent renewable energy would require about 3 GW each of solar and wind capacity, alongside roughly 3 GWh of storage, involving around Rs. 400 bn in renewable investment.

The Brookfield Asset Management-backed company has signed supply agreements with Meta Platforms, Google, Apple and Amazon. It will provide 1.8 GW under these arrangements, representing about a third of comparable contracts signed in India over the past three years. Data centres with 1.3 GW of IT capacity are under construction, while projects totalling another 3.2 GW have secured land, power and permits. Wood Mackenzie expects India’s capacity to reach 12 GW by 2030, with artificial intelligence-focused capacity rising to 6.5 GW.