Tata Communications to invest up to $450 million in India's “AI super highway”: 10,000 km of fiber for data centers

New Delhi — Tata Communications announced Monday a strategic investment of close to $450 million to build an “AI super highway” in India: a high-speed, low-latency network fabric connecting the country's key artificial intelligence and data center corridors.

The company will build around 10,000 kilometers of new long-haul fiber across the country, creating one of India's largest AI-ready connectivity networks, according to the company's official statement.

The project will be developed in three phases over a three- to five-year horizon. Phase 1 will prioritize the Mumbai–Pune–Hyderabad–Chennai corridor, one of India's most important routes for AI and hyperscale growth. Later phases will expand coverage to Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar, Jamnagar and GIFT City, among other strategic nodes.

The network is designed for global hyperscalers, AI platforms, cloud providers and enterprises, with direct data center-to-data center links, ultra-low latency and massive capacity: according to the company, 7.2 petabytes across the super highway, while its stock-exchange filing projects about 6 petabits per second of additional capacity between fiscal years 2030 and 2036, compared with 1.25 petabits per second currently in India.

The new infrastructure will be integrated with Tata Communications' global backbone network, spanning more than 500,000 kilometers of subsea fiber and more than 200,000 kilometers of terrestrial fiber, and will connect India's AI corridors with international subsea cable landing stations and major global AI hubs.

“We are excited about the opportunity in India data center-to-data center connectivity, which we believe could evolve into a market exceeding $1 billion over the medium term,” said Ganesh Lakshminarayanan, managing director and CEO of Tata Communications. The investment will be funded through the company's operating cash flows, according to its filing.

Photo: Trade Brains (archivo)

Source: Tata Communications