Standard Engineering Technology Ltd (SETL) is making a decisive push into India’s fast-growing AI datacentre infrastructure market by acquiring a majority stake in GScale Energy Pvt Ltd, aiming to localise the manufacturing of critical power and cooling equipment that is currently largely imported.
The precision engineering company has announced the acquisition of up to a 51% stake in GScale Energy through a combination of primary capital infusion and a strategic share-swap arrangement with existing shareholders. As part of Phase I, SETL will invest around ₹190 crore, while the overall phased investment commitment stands at ₹487 crore.
The move positions SETL to capitalise on the massive investments expected in AI datacentres, a segment that is witnessing unprecedented growth as enterprises and governments ramp up AI infrastructure deployment.
Addressing India’s AI infrastructure bottleneck
SETL said India’s AI datacentre expansion faces a critical challenge, with most power and cooling equipment still being imported, resulting in longer lead times, higher costs and supply constraints.
By combining SETL’s manufacturing capabilities with GScale Energy’s datacentre engineering expertise, the company aims to build a fully integrated, made-in-India platform for designing and manufacturing mission-critical power and cooling infrastructure.
The company believes the initiative will support faster project execution, lower costs and strengthen India’s self-reliance in AI infrastructure.
Leveraging complementary strengths
SETL brings more than two decades of experience in manufacturing precision engineering systems for the pharmaceutical and chemical industries, where reliability and operational safety are critical.
GScale Energy contributes over 25 years of datacentre expertise, having delivered 486 MW of datacentre infrastructure across India while building long-standing relationships with leading operators.
According to the company, the combination will enable customers to source integrated power and cooling solutions from a single domestic platform.
Building on import substitution success
SETL said its expansion into AI infrastructure follows a similar strategy that it successfully adopted in the glass-lined equipment business.
The company has an exclusive 20-year licence to manufacture advanced glass-lined equipment in India through its strategic partnership with Japan’s Asahi Glassplant (AGI) and GL HAKKO. The partnership enabled the localisation of equipment that was previously fully imported while also opening export opportunities through private-label and co-branding arrangements.
SETL now intends to replicate this model in AI datacentre infrastructure by localising advanced technologies, manufacturing them in India and serving both domestic and international markets.
Phased investment roadmap
Under the transaction structure, Phase I includes the acquisition of a 51% equity stake in GScale Energy for ₹190 crore, comprising a ₹65 crore share-swap component and the balance through primary capital infusion.
The remaining investment commitment will be deployed in phases, aligned with business milestones, to fund manufacturing capacity expansion, technology development, infrastructure creation and other capital expenditure required to scale operations.
With AI datacentre investments gathering momentum globally, SETL is positioning itself to become a domestic manufacturer of mission-critical power and cooling systems, reducing India’s dependence on imports while supporting the country’s rapidly expanding digital infrastructure ecosystem.