Gandhinagar: Gujarat govt has formally notified its Gujarat State Data Centre Policy, 2026-29, paving the way for companies to apply for setting up data centres in the state and avail of the incentives and benefits promised under the policy.The policy aims to position the state as India’s leading destination for hyperscale and AI data centres, with an ambitious target of facilitating 7.5GW of data centre capacity. The policy places a particular focus on developing Dholera as a world-class hyperscale data centre hub. Govt has claimed that the policy is among the world’s first dedicated hyperscale data centre policies.A top state govt official said, “Leveraging Dholera’s planned infrastructure, reliable power ecosystem, renewable energy leadership, and robust transmission network, Gujarat seeks to create a globally competitive digital infrastructure ecosystem.”Govt sources said although India generates nearly 20% of the world’s data, it accounts for only about 3% of global data centre capacity. The demand for data centre infrastructure is expected to rise sharply in the future, with India’s data centre power requirement projected to reach 13.56GW by 2031-32.Gujarat has already emerged as a major contender in the race to attract investments in the sector. “The state has already received investment intentions exceeding 10GW of data centre capacity, with commitments exceeding Rs 8 lakh crore from leading global and domestic developers,” a govt source said.The state govt expects the policy to help leverage Gujarat’s renewable energy strengths, transmission infrastructure and planned industrial ecosystems to attract hyperscalers, cloud service providers and other major digital infrastructure companies.The policy also seeks to strengthen India’s data sovereignty and digital resilience while facilitating the development of large-scale artificial intelligence infrastructure. It is aimed at creating an ecosystem capable of supporting the growing requirements of AI, cloud computing and other data-intensive technologies.
