Chennai | Mukesh Ambani, the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, announced on Sunday that the company, in collaboration with Canada's Brookfield Asset Management and US-based Digital Realty, is set to open a cutting-edge data centre in Chennai next week. This move marks Reliance's entry into the rapidly growing Indian data centres market, which is expected to attract £5 billion in investments by 2025 and grow by 40% annually.

Reliance's investment of approximately Rs 378 crore in July last year solidified its participation in an existing joint venture where Brookfield Infrastructure and US-based real estate investment trust Digital Realty were already key partners, with each entity holding a 33% stake. Ambani highlighted the joint venture's commitment to addressing the surging demand for data centre and compute capacity in India, fuelled by the localisation of personal data, increased access to digital services, and the adoption of data-intensive technologies like artificial intelligence.

Speaking at the Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet, Ambani emphasised the strategic importance of the data centre venture and outlined the company's broader investments in renewable energy and green hydrogen. He also expressed confidence in Tamil Nadu's potential to become a trillion-pound economy under the leadership of Chief Minister M K Stalin, praising the state's business-friendly environment.

The joint venture is set to launch a 20-megawatt greenfield data centre in Chennai next week, with plans to acquire 2.15 acres of land in Mumbai for an additional 40-megawatt data centre. Ambani acknowledged Tamil Nadu's rich cultural heritage and highlighted Reliance's substantial contributions to the state's growth, including the opening of 1,300 retail stores and significant investments in Jio, the group's telecom arm.

In closing, Ambani reiterated Reliance's commitment to new investments in Tamil Nadu, particularly in renewable energy and green hydrogen. He expressed confidence in collaboration with the state government to promote sustainable development, addressing the urgent need to combat the climate crisis. The chairman concluded by anticipating the state's support for Reliance's forthcoming initiatives through viable policies.