Adani Proposes ₹1 Lakh Crore AI Data Centre In Odisha, Seeks 250 Acres Land

The Adani Group has proposed an investment of Rs. 1 lakh crore to set up a large scale AI data centre in Odisha, in what could become one of India's largest AI focused digital infrastructure projects if approved. The group has sought around 250 acres of land from the state government to develop the facility.

Scale and location of the proposed project

The proposed facility is envisioned as a 1 gigawatt AI focused data centre, according to official sources cited by Business Standard. If cleared, the project could rank among India's largest AI data infrastructure developments, second only to Google's planned 1 gigawatt project coming up in Andhra Pradesh.

Cuttack has been identified as a possible location for the facility, though reports claim no final decision has been taken. The proposal is currently under evaluation by the Odisha government, with authorities assessing requirements including land availability, power supply, water resources and connectivity. The project is expected to be a standalone Adani Group investment rather than a joint venture, and the company has also sought state incentives for the facility. The proposal will be placed before a high level clearance authority chaired by the chief minister once due diligence is complete.

Odisha's emerging position in digital infrastructure

The proposal marks a significant step in Odisha's push to attract investment in emerging sectors such as artificial intelligence, electronics, semiconductors and digital infrastructure. The state, which has traditionally drawn large investments in metals, minerals and mining, is positioning itself as a digital infrastructure destination, backed by land availability, power capacity, coastal connectivity and policy support.

Odisha already hosts several data centre initiatives at various stages. The Reserve Bank of India's data centre in the state, being developed at a cost of Rs. 169 crore, is nearing completion, while the state government is setting up its own next generation data centre at an outlay of Rs. 266.48 crore. Adani Group already has an existing memorandum of understanding for a Rs. 800 crore hyperscale data centre in the state, separate from the newly proposed facility. Zoho Corporation is developing a Rs. 306 crore facility in Khordha, while HCLTech has announced plans for an AI optimised data centre within a planned Sovereign AI Park being developed in partnership with Indian frontier model company Sarvam and the Odisha government, with an outlay of Rs. 14,257 crore.

Part of a wider push into AI infrastructure

The Odisha proposal builds on Adani Group's broader strategy of investing $100 billion by 2035 in renewable powered, hyperscale, AI ready data centres across India. The group has described this push as an expansion into what it calls the complete five layer AI stack, aimed at building India's technological sovereignty, according to a statement from Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani.

The group currently operates a data centre in Chennai through a joint venture with EdgeConneX and is developing additional facilities in Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad. It is also partnering with Google on a gigawatt scale AI data centre campus in Visakhapatnam, and has separate collaborations with Microsoft in Hyderabad and Pune, along with plans for a second dedicated AI data centre with Flipkart to support digital commerce and high performance computing.

India's data centre market has been projected to exceed 100 billion dollars by 2027, according to estimates from CBRE Group, positioning states such as Odisha and Andhra Pradesh as emerging hubs for global and domestic technology investment as demand for AI compute capacity accelerates.

Published on: Wednesday, August 05, 2026, 09:57 AM IST