Meta and Reliance Industries have announced a major enhancement to their strategic alliance with a groundbreaking agreement to establish an AI-enabled data center in India. This facility will be situated in Jamnagar, Gujarat, and signifies Meta’s strong commitment to the Indian market, providing crucial infrastructure for its products and the advanced AI capabilities essential for delivering personalized superintelligence to one of its largest and rapidly expanding user communities worldwide. Under the terms of the agreement, Reliance will construct a data center with a capacity of 168 MW, which Meta plans to lease, with the potential for future expansion.
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Meta, expressed enthusiasm for the collaboration, stating, “We’re proud to be working with Reliance to build our first AI-enabled data center in India. This world-class facility in Jamnagar will help us scale our AI infrastructure globally while deepening our long-term investment in India’s economy.”
Meta is positioning itself for aggressive growth, aiming to enhance its capacity to support an array of technologies and AI initiatives that serve billions of users around the globe. Given India's rapidly evolving digital economy, its vast user base, and the strength of the partnership with Reliance, the country presents an ideal investment landscape for Meta.
The upcoming data center in Jamnagar will be powered by renewable energy and utilize desalinated seawater for cooling. Meta will take on the full costs associated with energy and water for the facility. This investment marks a significant step in Meta’s global infrastructure efforts and reinforces the existing partnership with Reliance, which encompasses connectivity, commerce, and AI development in one of the dynamic digital markets worldwide.
Jamnagar is strategically important, and Reliance is constructing one of the largest data center campuses globally there, benefiting from substantial energy resources necessary for supporting cutting-edge AI infrastructure. The first phase of the facility aims to deliver 168 MW of capacity, with options for scaling. Alongside Meta's extensive network investments, including Project Waterworth—recognized as the world’s longest subsea cable system—this initiative will provide premier connectivity to the region, enhancing service quality for India's digital community.
Over the years, Meta and Reliance have cultivated a robust partnership, and this latest investment exemplifies a mutual vision to propel India's digital future. This collaboration took a significant step forward in 2020 when Meta made a landmark investment of $5.7 billion in Jio Platforms, promoting connectivity and facilitating the growth of small businesses across India. The partnership has since evolved to include a joint venture that brings Meta’s open-source AI models to local enterprises and developers. The new data center agreement marks an exciting new chapter, focusing on the physical infrastructure that will power Meta's products and AI solutions in one of the largest and fastest-growing digital markets.
Mukesh D. Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, remarked, “This partnership with Meta marks a transformative moment for India’s digital infrastructure. Our efforts to establish India’s first built-to-suit AI data center for a global technology leader like Meta highlight India’s readiness to lead in the global AI revolution. At Reliance, we are dedicated to constructing world-class digital infrastructure that will fuel the next wave of AI innovation—not just in India, but across the globe.”
In support of sustainability, Meta is also pleased to announce that it has secured nearly 1 GW of new clean and renewable energy in India through agreements with two prominent clean energy providers. The contracts include 837 MW of new solar and wind projects through CleanMax in Rajasthan and Karnataka, raising the total capacity with CleanMax to over 900 MW, and 88 MW of new projects from Fourth Partner Energy across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh.
These initiatives, coupled with Reliance's efforts to power the Jamnagar data center with renewable energy, reflect a significant commitment to bolstering India’s clean energy infrastructure. This ensures that Meta’s expanding footprint in the country is underpinned by renewable energy sources and contributes to reducing emissions across Meta’s value chain in the region, aligning with its overarching commitment to achieving 100% clean and renewable energy operations globally.
