Hyderabad: HFCL Limited is moving to position itself as a larger global supplier to artificial intelligence and hyperscale data centre builders even as it looks at setting up a fibre optic preform manufacturing facility at an investment of Rs 600 crore. The company is also planning to leverage its in-house R&D and advanced manufacturing to build defence-related solutions.On Wednesday at its Hyderabad manufacturing facility, the company unveiled its new AI and hyperscale data centre-focused vertical – OptiQ AI — for its optical connectivity products and outlined fresh manufacturing investments to deepen its supply chain.HFCL managing director Mahendra Nahata said the OptiQ AI portfolio is aimed at high-bandwidth, high-density and rapid-deployment networks as AI workloads push data centres towards 800G and 1.6T architectures.Pointing out that demand from hyperscale data centre operators has become a major growth driver that has added to HFCL’s traditional telecom business, Nahata said currently 70% of HFCL’s fibre optic cable output from its Hyderabad, Goa and Chennai facilities is already exported, and the company could export more if not for commitments to Indian customers.He said hyperscalers are increasingly looking for suppliers that can provide not just cables but complete interconnect solutions inside and between data centres. With OptiQ AI, HFCL plans to pitch itself as a “one-stop shop” offering cables, assemblies, cassettes, panels and installation-related services for data centre connectivity.He said the company anticipated the shift in demand and invested in specialised machinery capable of producing ultra-high-count cables.HFCL has designed 7,000-fibre cables, which are under customer approval, and is working on 14,000-fibre cables, developed through its own engineering teams. Nahata said such products are available from only a limited number of global suppliers and are critical as GPU clusters scale towards 100,000 deployments.Citing industry estimates, Nahata said the AI optical market could expand from $14 billion today to $73 billion by 2030, driven by AI data centres, high-performance computing and hyperscale cloud networks. He said supply remains concentrated in a few geographies, creating room for India to offer competitively manufactured and resilient alternatives.He said HFCL is also planning a major backward-integration move by setting up a plant to manufacture optical fibre preforms, the glass rods from which fibre is drawn. Nahata said the project has been budgeted at about Rs 580 crore to Rs 600 crore. The location will be decided by July 15, with two to three options under evaluation, and machinery is being sourced from global suppliers.He said the proposed preform facility should be available in 18-24 months and could be expanded if quality and demand targets are met.He said HFCL also plans a bigger play in the defence business with capabilities in thermal weapon sights, electronic fuzes, high-capacity radio relay systems and surveillance radars, supported by R&D centres in Gurgaon, Bengaluru and Hyderabad and a defence manufacturing facility at Hosur.He said the company is looking at emerging battlefield requirements such as fibre-connected drones, where it has developed spool technology for carrying up to 10 km of fibre. HFCL aims to offer high-quality, locally manufactured defence technologies aligned with India’s need for resilient, indigenous supply chains.
