Data centres lead Rs 26.75 trillion India investment plans

India recorded investment announcements worth Rs 26.75 trillion between April 1 and August 5 of 2026-27, with the information technology-enabled services (ITeS) sector accounting for 56 per cent of the proposed investments, according to a report by Bank of Baroda’s economics research department.

The report said almost 99 per cent of the Rs 14.98 trillion in investment announcements in the ITeS sector are in data centres and artificial intelligence (AI), involving 13 companies.

Investment announcements remain concentrated in a few sectors and have yet to spread to consumer-oriented industries. Announcements in consumer goods, including automobiles, amounted to less than Rs 2,000 crore, the report said.

The other electronics segment saw investment announcements of around Rs 51,000 crore, with almost two-thirds of the proposed investments going into solar cells and batteries, reported the Business Standard.

“A part of this can also be linked to the production-linked incentive scheme which provides incentives,” the report said.

Renewable energy accounted for around Rs 25,000 crore of proposed investments, mainly in solar power-related activities.

Aluminium and steel are also seeing higher investment on the back of demand from infrastructure activity, the report said.

Conventional electricity was the second-largest category, accounting for Rs 6.86 trillion of proposed investments by seven companies.

Four of these companies, with a combined envisaged outlay of Rs 6.5 trillion, are in the nuclear power sector, the report said.

The domestic private sector accounted for 86 per cent of total investment announcements, followed by foreign private companies at 7.9 per cent.

Central government entities and commercial enterprises accounted for 5.6 per cent, while state government entities and commercial enterprises accounted for 0.4 per cent.

The report expects India’s gross domestic product growth to be 6.6-6.8 per cent this year, lower than last year but still among the highest globally.

Investment growth is expected at 8.5-9.5 per cent, marginally below the 9.9 per cent recorded last year.

The report credited the moderation mainly to uncertainty arising from the war in West Asia.