Nara Lokesh, IT Minister, Andhra Pradesh, has proposed that India aim for $100 billion in data centre investments annually and establish AI/data cities across the country. During his two-day visit to New Delhi, Lokesh met with central government ministers and prominent industry leaders, including representatives from Microsoft and Google.

Lokesh held meetings with Union Ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw, Rajnath Singh, and Dharmendra Pradhan. He advocated for the creation of data cities to drive the upcoming AI revolution, urging the central government to introduce incentive packages for their development. Andhra Pradesh is already working on India’s first data city near Vizag, with land being acquired near Madhurawada. Google has committed to establishing an AI data centre, marking it as an anchor client for the project.

Data cities are known to be energy-intensive, and Lokesh emphasised that renewable energy would be necessary to power these centres. He highlighted that over $300 billion in global investments are made annually in data centres, with India aiming to capture one-third of this, equating to $100 billion each year.

The data centre industry has seen rapid growth, driven by the increasing demand for cloud services and the rise of web-enabled devices. The surge in interest in generative AI is expected to further fuel the demand for high-density data centres, requiring substantial energy resources.

In his discussions, Lokesh also proposed that Andhra Pradesh serve as a model for AI-based governance in India. The state is making strides with initiatives like WhatsApp governance and a skill census, and Lokesh’s department, Real-Time Governance, is incubating AI applications to transform governance, which could later be implemented in other states.

News source: Telangana Today