Tata Communications will invest $450 million in 10,000km of AI-ready fiber to support data center connectivity in India.
Tata Communications has announced plans to invest nearly $450 million to build around 10,000 km (6,213 miles) of long-haul, AI-ready fiber in India. The company said the network will create one of the country's largest AI-ready connectivity networks, aimed at supporting demand for next-generation AI workloads. Tata noted that it has set aside $400-450 million for the build, which it said will support India's data center growth.
The investment is intended to meet demand from hyperscale and neocloud providers, AI workloads, digital-native businesses, Global Capability Centers (GCCs), enterprises, and emerging cloud platforms.
Tata will carry out the fiber buildout in three phases. The first will focus on the Mumbai-Pune-Hyderabad-Chennai corridor, which the company describes as one of India's most important AI and hyperscale growth routes. Later phases will extend connectivity into emerging data center ecosystems on the East Coast and in Western India, including Vizag, Bhubaneswar, Jamnagar, Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) City, and other strategic locations.
According to Tata, linking these routes and data center clusters with international cable landing stations will allow Tata Communications to provide seamless connectivity between India and major global AI hubs.
"With our planned investments, we are building on our existing strengths to create one of the most comprehensive data center connectivity platforms in the market, positioning us to capture this significant growth opportunity," said Ganesh Lakshminarayanan, MD and CEO, Tata Communications.
"As we scale, a growing proportion of our expansion is being driven by anchor customer commitments and contracted demand, providing a strong foundation for sustainable growth, efficient capital deployment and long-term value creation."
The planned system will be connected to Tata Communications' global network backbone, which spans 500,000 km (310,685 miles) of subsea optical fiber and 200,000 km (124,275 miles) of terrestrial fiber.