HCLTech has announced plans to set up its first AI data centre in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, marking a significant expansion of the company’s AI infrastructure ambitions in India. The facility will be developed at the upcoming Odisha Sovereign AI Park in partnership with AI startup Sarvam and the Government of Odisha.
According to the company’s statement, the planned capital outlay for the AI data centre project is ₹14,257 crore, including financial assistance from the Odisha government to support India’s sovereign AI and data ecosystem. Odisha officials and HCLTech leadership attended the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony, where the tripartite partnership between HCLTech, Sarvam and the state government was formalised.
The data centre is designed to be AI-optimised and will be located within the proposed Odisha Sovereign AI Park, a state-backed initiative focused on building indigenous AI infrastructure. Under the collaboration, Sarvam will contribute its Indian foundation models and AI capabilities, while HCLTech will bring its expertise across AI infrastructure, enterprise platforms and services. The partners aim to support sector-specific AI applications for both private enterprises and public sector organisations, aligned with India’s broader sovereign AI objectives.
The announcement is part of a wider set of projects in Odisha involving HCLTech and Sarvam AI, with state authorities indicating total proposed investments of around ₹15,000 crore over the next five years. As part of this broader plan, HCLTech will also establish a Global Delivery or Technology Centre in Bhubaneswar, with a proposed 5,000-seat capacity and operations expected to begin by 2028, further strengthening Odisha’s technology ecosystem.
Odisha’s leadership has framed the agreements as a step towards positioning the state as an emerging hub for AI and digital services, while aligning with national initiatives such as Digital India. For HCLTech, the Bhubaneswar AI data centre represents its first such facility in India, signalling a strategic move into large-scale, sovereign-focused AI infrastructure in collaboration with a domestic foundation model provider and a state government.
Read Article: India Directs GitHub to Take Down Jack Dorsey’s Bitchat Repositories
