New Delhi: Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal chaired the CEO roundtable on ease of doing business for scaling India’s data centre ecosystem at Vanijya Bhawan, New Delhi, highlighting the country’s potential to attract around USD 200 billion in investments into the data centre industry.
Speaking at the CEO roundtable on ease of doing business, Piyush Goyal said, “India is the world’s best location for setting up data centres.”
The meeting brought together stakeholders from the data centre industry to discuss measures for further promoting the sector and strengthening the ease of doing business in India.
Piyush Goyal Highlights India’s Data Centre Growth Potential
While chairing the CEO roundtable on ease of doing business, Piyush Goyal described the meeting as an engaging and fruitful platform for discussions with stakeholders from the data centre industry on further promoting the sector and enhancing ease of doing business in India.
Goyal expressed confidence in India’s growth prospects amid global uncertainty and volatility, while highlighting the country’s 7.8% growth in Q1.
He complimented the people of India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his decisive leadership and for instilling confidence among every Indian to contribute towards Amrit Kaal and the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.
The Minister highlighted the potential of India’s data centre and semiconductor industries, the country’s growing presence in Artificial Intelligence (AI), and its expanding manufacturing base for global quality products.
According to Goyal, these sectors would power India’s growth in the coming years and contribute towards achieving a USD 30 trillion economy by 2047.
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USD 200 Billion Investment Potential in Data Centres
The CEO roundtable on ease of doing business also focused on the scale of investment expected in India’s data centre sector.
Goyal said the interaction with stakeholders was marked by positivity and noted that discussions between different Departments of the Government of India and States had already helped resolve several issues.
He said it was satisfying to see the industry geared up, with investments of around USD 200 billion potentially coming into the data centre industry.
Goyal said the meeting provided valuable insights and ideas on how India could become the data centre of the world.
The roundtable was convened as a follow-up to the inaugural CEO Roundtable, with the objective of further strengthening the enabling ecosystem for the rapid and sustainable expansion of India’s data centre sector.
CEO Roundtable on Ease of Doing Business
The CEO roundtable on ease of doing business focused on faster deployment of data centre infrastructure, particularly across power, land, regulatory and fiscal issues.
Discussions highlighted the rapidly increasing demand arising from cloud and Artificial Intelligence (AI) workloads. Hyperscalers accounted for more than 80 per cent of data centre absorption in the first half of 2026, underscoring India’s emergence as an AI infrastructure destination.
The Government expects investments in the data centre sector to reach around USD 200 billion, reflecting the scale of the opportunity created by India’s rapidly growing digital economy and AI ecosystem.
Reliable Power and Data Centre-Ready Land
At the CEO roundtable on ease of doing business, stakeholders discussed measures to ensure adequate and reliable power availability for data centre projects.
The discussions included cluster-based transmission and substation planning, Day-1 sanctioned load, dual power feeders and facilitation of renewable energy procurement across State boundaries.
The need for DC-ready land banks and pre-identified power-ready parcels was also highlighted during the discussions.
These measures were discussed in the context of enabling faster deployment and supporting the expansion of India’s data centre infrastructure.
Streamlined Approvals and Building Regulations
The CEO roundtable on ease of doing business also reviewed regulatory measures aimed at reducing project timelines and improving investment certainty.
The discussions included streamlined single-window approvals and appropriate building regulations for data centres.
The meeting also noted significant progress since the previous roundtable.
The National Building Code 2026 now specifically recognises data centres under Group E, with a dedicated Annex on requirements for data centres, including fire-risk assessment and data-centre-specific performance indicators.
Governments, Data Centre Companies and Industry Stakeholders Participate
The CEO roundtable on ease of doing business brought together representatives from the Central and State Governments, CEOs and senior representatives of global hyperscalers, data centre developers and operators, investors, infrastructure providers and other key stakeholders.
Senior representatives from the Governments of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh participated in the roundtable.
Representatives from around 46 data centre companies also took part in the discussions.
Focus on Actionable Reforms for India’s Data Centre Ecosystem
The CEO roundtable on ease of doing business is intended to serve as a foundation for actionable, time-bound and high-impact reforms aimed at accelerating investment and innovation in India’s data centre sector.
The dialogue focused on strengthening India’s digital infrastructure and positioning the country as a trusted global data centre hub.
The discussions around power availability, ready-to-use land, regulatory approvals, building regulations and other enabling measures were aimed at further strengthening the ecosystem for the rapid and sustainable expansion of India’s data centre sector.
