India’s data center expansion hinges on efficiency and AI readiness
By Mayur Karmarkar, Managing Director, International Copper Association (ICA) India
India’s digital economy is expanding at an unprecedented pace. With over 9 GW of new data center capacity expected by 2030, investments from Google, Microsoft, Reliance, and Adani are transforming the nation into a global data hub. Government initiatives such as the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, the India AI Mission, and Digital India 2.0 have accelerated this buildout, while 5G adoption, UPI-driven digital payments, and surging OTT consumption have made India one of the world’s largest generators of data. Moreover, as generative AI adoption grows, AI-centric workloads will redefine data center architecture, pushing designs towards high density racks exceeding 100 kW and advanced cooling systems.
Yet as India races ahead on capacity, efficiency remains the real challenge. China’s mature data center ecosystem, currently operating around 10 GW and targeting up to 25 GW by 2030, sets a clear benchmark. Chinese facilities consistently achieve Tier-IV uptime (highest classification, completely fault-tolerant) and Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) values below 1.3, thanks to dense integration of advanced power systems, liquid cooling, and renewable energy. India, by contrast, averages a PUE closer to 1.5, with many facilities still grappling with legacy cooling designs, variable power quality, and infrastructure bottlenecks.
India’s market, though currently a fraction of this scale at ~1.5 GW, is the dynamic newcomer, growing at ~40% CAGR with a 9 GW target for 2030. This explosive growth hinges on building not just large-scale infrastructure, but also reliably, efficient and resilient facilities to match its digital ambitions. Despite rapid capacity growth, India’s data center operators currently continue to face persistent bottlenecks in power reliability, regulatory complexity, infrastructural readiness, network connectivity, cooling, skilled workforce availability, and cybersecurity preparedness each constraining cost efficiency, scalability, sustainability, and operational resilience.
The performance gap between India and China in data center efficiency can be partly attributed to the materials and technologies used in their infrastructure. Copper, with its exceptional electrical and thermal conductivity, plays a critical role in ensuring reliable power distribution and effective cooling—two factors essential for maintaining uptime and efficiency. Its ability to minimize energy loss as heat improves PUE and reduces risks like overheating or electrical failures, enhancing the overall safety and stability of data center.
Copper also supports advanced cooling systems, which are becoming increasingly important as AI workloads drive power densities higher. Efficient heat dissipation is necessary to prevent hardware failure, and copper’s thermal properties make it an ideal material for heat exchangers and emerging liquid cooling technologies. These systems help data center adapt to the demands of high-density workloads while maintaining operational resilience.
China’s advanced data center, which integrate higher copper intensity—approximately 36 tons per megawatt compared to India’s 17.5 tons—have achieved superior power density and thermal management. This strategic integration has enabled China to consistently achieve lower PUE values, highlighting the importance of adopting materials and technologies that prioritize efficiency and reliability. For India, increasing the use of copper in critical systems like power distribution and cooling could be a step forward in building AI-ready, sustainable data center capable of meeting the country’s growing digital demands.
To secure India’s digital future, the industry must champion a fundamental shift toward reliability-by-design and future-proof engineering. As AI workloads push power densities beyond 100 kW per rack, our infrastructure must be built on a foundation of fault-tolerant power distribution and advanced thermal management from the outset. This requires a collective commitment to enforce rigorous benchmarks including Tier-IV uptime and PUE targets below 1.3, as non-negotiable standards. In this context, the strategic selection of materials like copper for critical power and cooling systems is not merely a technical detail, but a cornerstone of operational resilience.
By promoting superior design principles, accelerating the adoption of liquid cooling technologies, and fostering an ecosystem of innovation, we can ensure every new data center is not just AI-ready, but inherently reliable, efficient, and built to last.