Meta leases AI-enabled data center in Jamnagar

Per Meta's press release, Meta Platforms and Reliance Industries announced an agreement to develop an AI-enabled data center in Jamnagar, Gujarat. Reliance will construct the facility with an initial 168 MW of capacity, which Meta will lease with options to scale, according to Reliance's filing to Indian exchanges and Reuters reporting. The site will be powered by renewable energy and cooled using desalinated seawater; Meta's announcement states Meta will cover the full cost of the energy and water supporting the facility. The Reliance exchange communication adds the Jamnagar capacity is expected to be delivered within two years.

Per Meta's announcement, the Jamnagar campus benefits from large on-site energy resources and is being developed as a built-to-suit facility for advanced AI workloads. The public statements highlight renewable power agreements tied to the project and a desalination-based cooling approach. Indian reporting additionally notes Meta announced nearly 1 gigawatt of new clean energy agreements in India, including 837 MW from CleanMax and 88 MW from Fourth Partner Energy, intended to support regional demand.

Companies deploying large-scale AI infrastructure commonly require high sustained power draw, specialized cooling, and significant network capacity. Placing 168 MW of initial capacity in western India matches industry patterns where hyperscalers colocate near major energy and subsea connectivity assets to reduce operational constraints and improve latency for local users.

Public coverage places this deal in the context of Meta's longer-term India investments. Reuters and Meta's release reference Meta's $5.7 billion 2020 investment in Jio Platforms and prior collaboration on AI tools and enterprise offerings, including a 2025 joint venture reported to have started with an initial 8.55 billion rupees commitment. Reuters cites IMARC Group estimates projecting India's data center market could nearly double to $13.11 billion by 2034, framing the commercial rationale cited by observers.

For regional AI infrastructure, the Jamnagar project signals growing onshore compute capacity for large models and AI services in India. Industry observers note that adding built-to-suit capacity backed by renewable procurement and local cooling solutions is a common approach hyperscalers use to manage both energy intensity and regulatory and localization concerns.

For practitioners and observers, monitor these indicators: the actual timeline and phases of the Jamnagar build (Reliance's filing cites delivery within two years), interconnection and subsea routing details that affect latency, the power-purchase agreements that will underwrite sustained GPU-scale consumption, and whether future announcements disclose hosted hardware generations or colocation partners. Onshore capacity can also change operational choices around data residency, model deployment latency, and hybrid cloud architecture for India-focused applications.