Meta to Lease AI Data Center from Reliance in India
The Facebook parent's first AI-focused facility in the country will be built in Gujarat with 168 MW capacity.
Meta has secured its first AI-enabled data center in India through a partnership with Reliance Industries, marking a significant infrastructure investment in one of the company's largest user markets.
The Facebook parent company will lease a 168-megawatt capacity facility that Reliance is building in Jamnagar, located in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The arrangement includes options for Meta to expand the data center's capacity as needed, according to details first reported by Reuters.
Why it matters
India represents both a massive existing user base for Meta's platforms and a rapidly expanding market for AI services. By establishing dedicated infrastructure rather than relying solely on third-party cloud providers, Meta gains greater control over latency, data sovereignty, and the ability to deploy AI models at scale in a market where digital adoption is accelerating faster than in many developed economies.
A growing data center market
The timing aligns with projections showing India's data center market is on track to nearly double from current levels to $13.11 billion by 2034. Consulting firm IMARC Group attributes this growth to ongoing digital transformation initiatives, increased cloud adoption, and rising demand for AI workloads across enterprises.
Meta cited India's substantial user base and fast-growing digital economy as key factors making the country an ideal location for infrastructure investment.
Deepening Reliance partnership
This data center agreement builds on an existing relationship between the two companies. In August of last year, Meta and Reliance formed a joint venture focused on developing AI platforms and tools for Indian enterprises. That initiative leverages Meta's Llama large language models and involved an initial combined investment of 8.55 billion rupees (approximately $89.67 million), with Reliance holding a 70% stake and Meta 30%.
The partnership extends back further to 2020, when Meta invested $5.7 billion in Jio Platforms, a Reliance entity that operates India's largest mobile network and various digital services.
Strategic infrastructure play
By leasing rather than building the facility directly, Meta can accelerate its timeline to operational capacity while Reliance leverages its local construction expertise and regulatory knowledge. The Jamnagar location in Gujarat offers proximity to existing Reliance infrastructure and access to power resources necessary for energy-intensive AI workloads.
The scalability provisions in the lease agreement suggest Meta anticipates growing computational demands as it deploys more AI features across its platforms and potentially offers AI services to Indian businesses through the joint venture.
Details of the partnership were first reported by Reuters.
This is an original analysis by the Omega editorial team. Source reporting: AI Watch.
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