As technology companies compete to secure the computing power necessary for training and deploying artificial intelligence systems, Meta has made its first AI infrastructure investment in India. The social media giant has entered into a data center partnership with the Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, marking a significant move in a market that is quickly becoming a hub for AI infrastructure.

Announced on Wednesday, the partnership involves Meta collaborating with Reliance on a 168-megawatt AI-enabled data center located in Jamnagar, Gujarat. This deepens a relationship that began with Meta's multibillion-dollar investment in Reliance's Jio Platforms and evolved into a $100 million joint venture launched last year, aimed at developing enterprise AI solutions for customers in India and abroad.

The deal comes as India solidifies its position as a prime destination for AI infrastructure investments. Tech giants are seeking new locations for data centers to meet the surging demand for computing power needed to train and deploy AI models. Companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, Google, OpenAI, and Uber have recently announced AI and cloud infrastructure investments in the country, which has rapidly expanded its data center capacity in recent years.

The rush into India extends beyond global tech firms. Earlier this week, Blackstone-backed AirTrunk revealed plans to invest $30 billion to build 5 gigawatts of data center capacity in the country by 2030. Indian conglomerates like Adani and Tata Consultancy Services have also unveiled major data center expansion plans to support AI workloads.

The Indian government has sought to attract these investments through policy incentives, including tax exemptions for foreign cloud providers on services sold overseas until 2047, provided those workloads are run from Indian data centers. According to government data, India's installed data center capacity has risen from about 375 megawatts in 2020 to around 1.5 gigawatts in 2025. Industry projections suggest this figure could grow more than fivefold to over 8 gigawatts by the end of the decade, driven by cloud adoption, AI workloads, and rising demand for local data processing.

The Meta-Reliance agreement marks the latest chapter in a relationship that has steadily deepened since Meta invested $5.7 billion in Jio Platforms in 2020. Since then, the companies have expanded their collaboration across digital services, enterprise AI, and now the infrastructure underpinning next-generation AI systems.

As part of the partnership, Meta is leasing capacity at Reliance's new Jamnagar facility, which the companies said will be powered by renewable energy and cooled using desalinated seawater. Meta has committed to covering the entire cost of the energy and water required to support its operations there. Reliance stated that the 168-megawatt facility will be ready within two years and can be expanded over time.

Furthermore, the data center will also support Meta's global infrastructure and AI computing requirements, integrating India more directly into the company's worldwide network of AI facilities. Under the agreement, Reliance said it would provide end-to-end services ranging from design and construction to renewable power, connectivity, and ongoing operations. This reflects the conglomerate's ambition to become a one-stop shop for AI infrastructure among global technology companies.

Separately, Meta announced that it has contracted nearly 1 gigawatt of new renewable energy capacity in India through agreements with CleanMax and Fourth Partner Energy, which will supplement the renewable power supporting the Jamnagar facility. The companies did not disclose the value of the agreement, the type of AI workloads that will run from the facility, or whether Meta plans additional AI infrastructure investments in India.