Union Minister Piyush Goyal said that India has a national grid of 500 gigawatts. There is no power shortage, so the country is a reliable location for data centers and global capability hubs.
New Delhi: Union Minister Piyush Goyal clarified on Monday that India is the best location in the world for data centres. He said that the biggest reason for this is that there is no shortage of electricity in India and the country’s 500 gigawatt national grid can easily handle the suddenly increasing demand.
National Grid and India’s potential
Goyal told in the press conference organized on the energy sector that earlier he had been the Minister of Power and Renewable Energy. He stressed that the power generation capacity in India is completely sufficient. The country’s 500 gigawatt grid is one of the largest grids in the world and is capable of meeting the country’s growing needs.
Goyal said, “Europe does not have a national grid. America does not either. But India does. That is why we are a great place for data centres. The number of data centers will increase in the coming years, but we will have enough power to meet the needs of people, farmers, industries and business places. We will also easily meet the demand of data centers and Global Capability Centers (GCC).”
Trust of big tech companies
The confidence of big tech companies in data centers and AI based infrastructure is continuously increasing in India. In October, Google announced a collaboration with Adani Group to build a gigawatt scale data center in Andhra Pradesh. For this, the company will invest 15 billion dollars and it will be made an AI infrastructure hub.
This month, Amazon Web Services (AWS) planned to invest $ 7 billion to increase data centers in Telangana. This investment will be completed in the next 14 years.
Microsoft has also announced an investment of $17.5 billion to build a strong foundation of AI in India. This investment will help prepare the country for an AI based future.
India’s data centers power needs
Minister of State for Power Shripad Naik said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha that at present the total power requirement of data centers in the country is about 1 gigawatt. But due to the upcoming data centres, this figure will increase to 13.56 gigawatt by 2031-32.
Coal and balanced energy policy
Goyal also discussed plans to increase coal-based power generation. He said that new coal production capacity will be added to meet the needs of the country. “We cannot deprive people of electricity. Increasing coal production will reduce imports. We have already reduced imports. We are also looking at options like converting coal into synthetic gas,” he stressed.
Goyal said that India is a developing country and there is a need of time for change in the energy sector. He said that India will also work towards clean energy while keeping energy prices low. The need for thermal power is projected to increase to 307 GW by 2035.
status of power companies
The Union Minister said that four years ago the total debt of power companies was Rs 1.4 lakh crore. It has now come down to only Rs 6,500 crore. This improvement shows that India’s power companies are now in a strong financial position and the future of the country’s energy sector is secure.
India’s global role
Goyal said that India can become an example for developed countries in the energy sector. The country has pursued energy development in a balanced manner with scale, speed and sustainability. Due to this, India has become the most reliable option for data centers and global capability centers for the world.
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