Meta signs first AI data center deal in India with Reliance

Meta has announced a significant partnership with Reliance Industries to establish its first AI-enabled data center in India. This collaboration involves a 168-megawatt facility in Jamnagar, Gujarat, and signifies Meta's growing investment in the rapidly expanding Indian AI market. The partnership deepens an existing relationship that began with Meta's multi-billion dollar investment in Reliance's Jio Platforms in 2020.

The agreement highlights India's emerging status as a crucial location for AI infrastructure. The country has seen a surge in data center investments from major tech companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Google, OpenAI, and Uber, all seeking to meet the increasing demand for computing power required to train and deploy advanced AI models.

India's government is actively encouraging these investments through policy incentives, including tax exemptions for foreign cloud providers. The nation's installed data center capacity has grown substantially, from approximately 375 megawatts in 2020 to around 1.5 gigawatts in 2025, with projections indicating a potential growth to over 8 gigawatts by the end of the decade.

The new Meta-Reliance data center will be powered by renewable energy and cooled using desalinated seawater, with Meta covering the associated energy and water costs. The facility, expected to be operational within two years, will also support Meta's global AI infrastructure, integrating India more deeply into its worldwide network. Reliance, through this partnership, aims to position itself as a comprehensive provider of AI infrastructure services.