India eyes $200B in data center investments as it ramps up its AI hub
ambitions
[February 17, 2026] By
RAJESH ROY
NEW DELHI (AP) — India is hoping to garner as much as $200 billion in
investments for data centers over the next few years as it scales up its
ambitions to become a hub for artificial intelligence, the country’s
minister for electronics and information technology said Tuesday.
The investments underscore the reliance of tech titans on India as a key
technology and talent base in the global race for AI dominance. For New
Delhi, they bring in high-value infrastructure and foreign capital at a
scale that can accelerate its digital transformation ambitions.
The push comes as governments worldwide race to harness AI's economic
potential while grappling with job disruption, regulation and the
growing concentration of computing power in a few rich countries and
companies.
“Today, India is being seen as a trusted AI partner to the Global South
nations seeking open, affordable and development-focused solutions,”
Ashwini Vaishnaw told The Associated Press in an email interview, as New
Delhi hosts a major AI Impact Summit this week drawing participation
from at least 20 global leaders and a who’s who of the tech industry.
In October, Google announced a $15 billion investment plan in India over
the next five years to establish its first artificial intelligence hub
in the South Asian country. Microsoft followed two months later with its
biggest-ever Asia investment announcement of $17.5 billion to advance
India’s cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure over the next
four years.
Amazon too has committed $35 billion investment in India by 2030 to
expand its business, specifically targeting AI-driven digitization. The
cumulative investments are part of $200 billion in investments that are
in the pipeline and New Delhi hopes would flow in.
Vaishnaw said India’s pitch is that artificial intelligence must deliver
measurable impacts at scale rather than remain an elite technology.
“A trusted AI ecosystem will attract investment and accelerate
adoption,” he said, adding that a central pillar of India’s strategy to
capitalize on the use of AI is building infrastructure.
The government recently announced a long-term tax holiday for data
centers as it hopes to provide policy certainty and attract global
capital.
Vaishnaw said the government has already operationalized a shared
computing facility with more than 38,000 graphics processing units, or
GPUs, allowing startups, researchers and public institutions to access
high-end computing without heavy upfront costs.
“AI must not become exclusive. It must remain widely accessible,” he
said.
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Delegates arrive for an AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, India,
Tuesday, Feb.17, 2026. (AP Photo)
 Alongside the infrastructure drive,
India is backing the development of sovereign foundational AI models
trained on Indian languages and local contexts. Some of these models
meet global benchmarks and in certain tasks rival widely used large
language models, Vaishnaw said.
India is also seeking a larger role in shaping how AI is built and
deployed globally as the country doesn’t see itself strictly as a
“rule maker or rule taker,” according to Vaishnaw, but an active
participant in setting practical, workable norms while expanding its
AI services footprint worldwide.
“India will become a major provider of AI services in the near
future,” he said, describing a strategy that is “self-reliant yet
globally integrated” across applications, models, chips,
infrastructure and energy.
Investor confidence is another focus area for New Delhi as global
tech funding becomes more cautious.
Vaishnaw said the technology’s push is backed by execution, pointing
to the Indian government's AI Mission program which emphasizes
sector specific solutions through public-private partnerships.
The government is also betting on reskilling its workforce as global
concerns grow that AI could disrupt white collar and technology
jobs. New Delhi is scaling AI education across universities,
skilling programs and online platforms to build a large AI-ready
talent pool, the minister said.
Widespread 5G connectivity across the country and a young,
tech-savvy population are expected to help with the adoption of AI
at a faster pace, he added.
Balancing innovation with safeguards remains a challenge though, as
AI expands into sensitive sectors such as governance, health care
and finance.
Vaishnaw outlined a fourfold strategy that includes implementable
global frameworks, trusted AI infrastructure, regulation of harmful
misinformation and stronger human and technical capacity to hedge
the impact.
“The future of AI should be inclusive, distributed and
development-focused,” he said.
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