According to reports, the government is exploring the feasibility of providing dedicated, uninterrupted power to large data center parks either through direct lines from power producers or by setting up small nuclear plants nearby.

As data centers with artificial intelligence (AI) servers and graphics processing units (GPUs) are set up across India, the need for an uninterruptible power supply with a separate power source will be felt.

This means that both the quality of the power supplied and the uninterrupted supply must be maintained at the highest level, a demand that will only increase with the advent of AI servers and GPUs.

One option is to allow these data center parks to build independent power grids so that they can purchase power from power generators or other power surplus states rather than the state where the infrastructure is located.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology contacted the Ministry of Electricity to discuss the feasibility of this option.

They are studying all the options and the best possible way ahead. Whether an option will be feasible or not – cost-wise and infrastructure-wise – and ensuring minimal power loss will be a part of our study, as per reports.

The Indian data center operational capacity is expected to more than double to 2,000-2,100 MW by 2026-27 from 950 MW in FY24 with an investment of up to Rs 55,000 crore.

Anupama Reddy, vice president of corporate ratings at ICRA says, “The low data tariff plans, access to affordable smartphones, adoption of new technologies and growing user base of social media, e-commerce, gaming and OTT platforms are some of the key triggers for data explosion. Also, artificial intelligence (AI) led demand, which is expected to increase multi-fold in the next 3-5 years, presents significant opportunities.”