Meta taps Reliance for 168-MW AI data centre in India

Facebook-parent Meta said on Wednesday that it has tied up with Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries for the U.S. company's first AI-enabled data centre in India, marking a significant expansion of its infrastructure investments in one of its fastest-growing markets.

Reliance will build a data centre with a capacity of 168 MW in Jamnagar in the western Indian state of Gujarat, which Meta will lease, with options to scale, according to a statement issued by the companies. The facility, designed to support Meta's growing artificial intelligence workloads and digital services, will be powered by renewable energy and cooled using desalinated seawater. Meta said it will bear the full cost of the energy and water required to operate the facility.

The move comes as global technology companies accelerate investments in AI infrastructure amid rising demand for computing power needed to train and deploy large language models and other AI-driven services.

Meta founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said the Jamnagar facility would help the company expand its global AI infrastructure footprint while strengthening its long-term commitment to India.

The announcement marks the latest chapter in the relationship between Meta and Reliance. In 2020, Meta invested $5.7 billion in Jio Platforms, becoming one of the largest shareholders in the digital services company. Since then, the two companies have collaborated across connectivity, commerce and artificial intelligence initiatives.

In August last year, Meta and Reliance formed a joint venture to build AI platforms and tools for enterprises in India using Meta's Llama models. Reliance and Meta jointly committed an initial investment of $89.67 million, split 70% and 30%, respectively.

Reliance chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani said the partnership demonstrates India's growing role in the global AI ecosystem and reflects the country's readiness to host large-scale AI infrastructure.

The Jamnagar project is part of Reliance's broader plans to build one of the world's largest data centre campuses. The location offers access to significant energy resources required to operate high-density AI computing infrastructure.

Alongside the data centre announcement, Meta said it has contracted nearly 1 gigawatt (GW) of additional renewable energy capacity in India to support its expanding infrastructure footprint.

The company signed agreements with CleanMax for 837 MW of new solar and wind projects across Rajasthan and Karnataka, taking its cumulative announced capacity with the renewable energy developer to more than 900 MW.

Meta has also partnered with Fourth Partner Energy for 88 MW of solar and wind projects across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.

The clean energy agreements, combined with renewable power support for the Jamnagar facility, are aimed at helping Meta meet its global target of matching its operations with 100% renewable energy while reducing value-chain emissions.

India has emerged as a key market for global hyperscalers and technology firms investing in AI and cloud infrastructure, driven by rapid digital adoption, expanding internet usage and growing demand for data-intensive services.