India’s rapidly expanding data centre sector is expected to generate one lakh engineering jobs, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said on Friday (22 May).
Delivering the keynote address during the Special Session on “Future-Proofing India’s Data Centres: Resilient Supply Chains and Opportunities” at the Annual Leadership Summit organised by AMCHAM India, the minister said India’s data centre capacity is projected to grow from 1.5 GW to nearly 6.5 GW by 2030 and the ongoing expansion is expected to generate nearly one lakh engineering jobs in areas such as AI systems, cooling technologies, smart grids, renewable energy integration and advanced digital infrastructure.
He said India’s rapidly evolving ecosystem driven by AI, 6G, semiconductors and digital public infrastructure is creating unprecedented opportunities for global investments and technology collaboration.
Describing data centres as the “next oil economy”, Singh said the future will increasingly revolve around data control, digital infrastructure and secure technology ecosystems.
He stressed that India must move with an integrated national approach involving Government, private industry, infrastructure providers, telecom networks, renewable energy stakeholders and research institutions to fully leverage the emerging opportunities in hyperscale data centres and colocation markets.
The country’s data centre capacity is projected to reach between 1.7 GW and 2.0 GW by the end of 2026, representing approximately 30 per cent year-on-year growth.
