Schneider Electric expects India’s booming AI-driven data center market to grow faster than its core business over the next five years.
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| India’s data center industry could become one of the world’s fastest-growing AI infrastructure markets as companies expand beyond major metro cities. Image: CH |
Mumbai, India — May 25, 2026:
India’s artificial intelligence boom is starting to reshape the country’s infrastructure economy.
And according to Schneider Electric, the shift is happening much faster than many expected.
The company says its India data center business is now growing faster than its broader operations in the country, driven largely by exploding demand for AI-ready digital infrastructure.
That is a major signal for the global tech industry.
Data centers currently contribute around 15 to 20 percent of Schneider Electric’s India business.
But that share is expected to rise sharply over the next four to five years as AI adoption accelerates across industries.
The reason is simple.
Artificial intelligence consumes enormous computing power.
Training AI models, running cloud applications, processing enterprise data, and supporting AI-powered services require massive amounts of electricity, cooling systems, backup power, and network infrastructure.
That means AI growth is no longer just a software story.
It is becoming an infrastructure story.
India is now positioning itself as one of the world’s next major data center markets.
According to industry estimates, the country’s data center market could grow to more than $31 billion by 2035.
Capacity could jump from around 1.5 gigawatts today to as much as 6 to 7 gigawatts by 2030.
That scale of expansion would place India among the fastest-growing digital infrastructure markets globally.
What makes the trend especially important is where the growth is happening.
For years, India’s data center industry was concentrated mainly in cities like Mumbai and Chennai.
Now investment is spreading into newer regions including Gujarat and Rajasthan as companies move infrastructure closer to customers and industrial zones.
This geographic expansion matters for businesses.
It means cloud computing, AI services, enterprise software, and digital platforms may become faster, cheaper, and more locally distributed across India’s economy.
It also creates opportunities far beyond the technology sector itself.
Power management, cooling systems, electrical equipment, smart grids, renewable energy integration, and industrial automation are all becoming part of the AI infrastructure supply chain.
That is where Schneider Electric is strategically positioned.
The company supplies critical data center systems including UPS backup power, switchgear, cooling technology, power distribution units, and energy management software.
In the AI era, these systems are becoming just as important as chips and servers themselves.
AI workloads generate intense heat and consume huge amounts of electricity.
Without efficient cooling and stable power infrastructure, large-scale AI computing simply cannot operate reliably.
This is creating a new kind of technology race.
It is no longer only about who builds the best AI models.
It is also about who can build the physical infrastructure needed to support them.
India is becoming increasingly attractive in that competition because it combines a large digital consumer market, expanding manufacturing capacity, lower operational costs, and rising cloud demand.
Schneider Electric also highlighted another important trend.
India is no longer just consuming data center technology.
It is increasingly manufacturing it locally.
That shift aligns with broader efforts to strengthen domestic technology production and reduce dependence on imported infrastructure equipment.
For tech businesses, the implications are significant.
AI growth is expected to drive demand not only for software developers and cloud providers, but also for construction firms, energy companies, chip suppliers, cooling technology manufacturers, telecom operators, and industrial equipment makers.
In other words, the AI economy is expanding far beyond Silicon Valley-style software companies.
And as India scales its data center ecosystem, it could become one of the most important infrastructure battlegrounds in the global AI race.