17 GW Data Centre Proposals Received Under Gujarat’s New Policy: Govt

Gandhinagar: Gujarat, which unveiled its first-ever Data Centre Policy 2026–29 earlier this year with a target of setting up 7.5 GW of data centre capacity, has already received proposals for projects with a combined capacity of nearly 17 GW under this policy.

Science and Technology Minister Arjun Modhwadia told the Gujarat Assembly on Friday that if all the proposals are implemented, they could attract more than Rs 17 lakh crore in investment to the state. He said both domestic and international companies have expressed interest in setting up data centres in Gujarat.

Calling data centres “the oil wells of the present era,” he said the policy aims to make Gujarat a “prime mover” in India’s AI revolution.

Responding to concerns over the substantial power and water requirements of data centres, Modhwadia said Gujarat was a power-surplus state and that the government was promoting the use of desalinated water, which would subsequently be recycled.

Dholera has been identified as a major data centre hub, and projects established there will be eligible for an additional 2.5% capital subsidy. The government is also working towards creating a wider digital infrastructure ecosystem around proposed submarine cable landing stations at Chorwad or Diu, Porbandar, Surat and Dholera.

Modhwadia said that despite India accounting for around 20% of global data generation, the country currently stores only a small proportion of the data it produces.

The Viksit Gujarat Data Centre Policy 2026–29, announced on July 9, offers capital and interest subsidies, SGST reimbursement, electricity concessions, and reimbursement of stamp duty and registration fees. Projects with captive desalination plants will also receive capital assistance.

Data centre operators must source at least 51% of their electricity from renewable sources. The policy also allows open-access power procurement and provides concessions on FSI, parking, ground coverage, building height and diesel generator stacking. DeshGujarat