Tata set to invest US$11 billion in Maharashtra AI Innovation City

[NEW DELHI] The Tata Group is set to invest US$11 billion to establish a world-class “Innovation City” near the new Navi Mumbai International Airport to capitalise on India’s ambition to lead the world in artificial intelligence and semiconductor services.

“International investors are now expressing serious interest in investing in this city,” Devendra Fadnavis, chief minister of Maharashtra state, told news agency ANI on Wednesday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. The investment will include a data centre he said. 

Maharashtra contributes over 10 per cent of India’s gross domestic product, with the capital Mumbai home to companies such as Reliance Industries and the Tata Group, the country’s two main stock markets, and the Hindi film industry.

That economic heft, however, is under pressure from high unemployment, even as the state – now controlled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party – has announced an ambitious US$30 billion plan to overhaul Mumbai’s infrastructure.

The positioning of Innovation City adjacent to the Navi Mumbai airport, a landmark project developed by the Adani Group, is expected to create a powerful synergy between global transit and high-tech industry.

The investment comes as tech companies including Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon.com are pouring billions of dollars into data centres to deliver AI capabilities to customers worldwide. Global demand for data centre capacity could more than triple by 2030 to reach an annual level of 219 gigawatts, according to consultancy McKinsey. BLOOMBERG