Powering India’s Data Centres: The Green Backbone of the Digital Economy

Powering India’s Data Centres: The Green Backbone of the Digital Economy

India’s digital economy is growing at an unprecedented pace. Vast volumes of data generated by cloud services, OTT platforms, fintech, e-commerce and AI workloads are driving exponential growth in data centre capacity across the country.

Behind every app, transaction and video stream lies a network of energy-intensive facilities that must operate 24x7 with extremely high reliability. The big question is how India can meet this demand sustainably while keeping costs and emissions under control.

India’s Digital Growth Meets Energy Reality

Modern data centres require continuous, high-quality power for IT loads, cooling, security and auxiliary systems. As India’s installed capacity of such facilities expands, grid demand from this single segment is expected to rise sharply over the coming decade.

If this demand is served predominantly by fossil-based generation, the sector’s carbon footprint will climb rapidly. Large technology companies and colocation providers are therefore increasingly committing to renewable energy, green power procurement models and science-based decarbonisation targets.

The Growing Energy Footprint of Data Centres

Globally, data centres are estimated to account for a meaningful share of electricity consumption, and their share is projected to grow. In India, new capacity is being announced across Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi-NCR and emerging hubs, adding to regional peak loads.

Operators must balance three priorities: maintaining uptime, keeping operating costs competitive and demonstrating clear progress on ESG metrics. This is where renewable energy-linked strategies such as open access solar, wind and hybrid solutions become critical.

India’s Renewable Advantage: A Bright Path Forward

India has one of the world’s largest and most rapidly expanding renewable energy pipelines. High solar irradiation, strong wind corridors and supportive policy frameworks enable long-term green power at competitive tariffs.

By leveraging models such as Green Open Access, data centres can secure power from off-site solar, wind or hybrid projects, reducing dependence on carbon-intensive grid supply while gaining tariff visibility over 10–25 year contracts.

Next-generation data centres are optimising both IT efficiency and energy sourcing to cut operational emissions.

Greener by Design: Emerging Sustainable Data Centres

Sustainability in data centres is no longer limited to efficient servers. Operators are rethinking site selection, building envelopes, cooling technologies and power architectures to shrink overall energy intensity.

• Adopting high-efficiency chillers, free-air or liquid cooling to lower PUE.
• Deploying on-site solar where feasible to supplement grid supply.
• Using advanced monitoring and AI-driven controls to optimise load and cooling in real time.
• Integrating battery storage or hybrid solutions to support critical loads and manage intermittency.

The Tech–Renewable Synergy: Case for Deeper Collaboration

Cloud providers, hyperscalers and colocation operators are increasingly partnering with renewable energy developers to co-design long-term solutions. Such partnerships can combine capacity planning, power procurement and grid integration into a single, coherent strategy.

Structured correctly, these arrangements allow data centres to lock in competitive green tariffs, hedge against price volatility and demonstrate credible progress on net-zero roadmaps to regulators, customers and investors.

Challenges Ahead: Building Resilient Green Infrastructure

Transitioning to high shares of renewable energy is not without challenges. Developers and operators must account for variability in generation, grid constraints in key regions, evolving regulations and the need for robust backup and storage solutions.

Addressing these gaps demands careful site selection, flexible contract structures, and technical designs that can accommodate future upgrades in both IT and power systems.

Co-locating data centres with renewable energy assets can strengthen both resilience and sustainability performance.

The Road Ahead: Green + Digital = India’s Global Edge

As India positions itself as a global hub for cloud and digital services, the way its data centres source and use energy will have economy-wide implications. Combining robust digital infrastructure with ambitious renewable energy adoption can create a powerful competitive advantage.

By embracing long-term green power strategies today, operators can future-proof assets, meet stakeholder expectations and contribute meaningfully to national climate goals.