HCLTech has unveiled plans to establish its first artificial intelligence (AI) data centre at the upcoming Odisha Sovereign AI Park, marking a major step in its entry into India’s fast-emerging sovereign AI infrastructure space.
The proposed project, to be developed in partnership with Sarvam and the Government of Odisha, will involve an estimated capital outlay of ₹14,257 crore, including financial assistance from the state government.
The announcement follows HCLTech’s declaration earlier this month that it would enter the full-stack AI market, expanding beyond technology services into AI infrastructure, computing platforms and enterprise AI solutions.
Building India’s sovereign AI ecosystem
The proposed AI data centre is expected to serve as a critical computing backbone for India’s sovereign AI ambitions by combining HCLTech’s full-stack AI capabilities with Sarvam’s indigenous foundation models.
The facility will support the development of sector-specific AI applications for government departments and enterprises while addressing data sovereignty requirements by enabling AI workloads to be processed within India.
The initiative is also expected to strengthen India’s local AI developer ecosystem and accelerate the delivery of multilingual AI services in line with the government’s vision of making artificial intelligence accessible across the country.
Strategic partnership
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the project was signed by HCLTech, the Odisha Government and Sarvam in the presence of Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, senior state government officials and company executives.
HCLTech Chairperson Roshni Nadar Malhotra said the investment aligns with the Centre’s Digital India and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives.
She said the company aims to become an enabler of India’s sovereign AI ecosystem through investments and partnerships spanning the AI value chain.
HCLTech CEO & Managing Director C. Vijayakumar described the project as a significant milestone in the company’s full-stack AI strategy, adding that Odisha’s policy support and infrastructure make it an attractive destination for AI investments.
Sarvam Co-founder Pratyush Kumar said the proposed AI park would integrate high-performance computing with Indian AI models and real-world enterprise applications, enabling large-scale deployment across public and private sectors.
AI infrastructure race gathers pace
The investment comes as India rapidly expands its AI infrastructure to support growing demand for AI training and inference workloads, fuelled by increasing adoption of generative AI, data localisation requirements and rising demand for GPU-powered computing.
Industry analysts view sovereign AI infrastructure as a strategic priority for India, enabling governments and enterprises to deploy AI models securely while reducing dependence on overseas cloud infrastructure.
If implemented as planned, the Odisha facility would position HCLTech among the first Indian IT services companies to invest at scale in domestic AI infrastructure, complementing its traditional technology services business with AI computing capabilities