Talking about the upcoming Jamnagar data centre of the company, Santosh Janardhan, Vice President (Infrastructure), Meta, said on Thursday, “It will be part of a global fleet serving that global audience. We’re opening this data centre in India because we think India is an attractive investment destination.”
Last week, Meta announced that it has entered a partnership with Reliance Industries to lease its first AI-enabled data centre in India. The tech giant’s decision to back a 168-megawatt AI-enabled data centre in Gujarat’s Jamnagar is more than just a major infrastructure investment. While the benefits for Indian consumers will be indirect initially, they will be potentially significant later.
For the company, it reflects a broader belief that India is becoming increasingly key to the future of global digital infrastructure.
Speaking during a media roundtable, Janardhan described the Jamnagar facility as part of the company’s worldwide network of interconnected computing systems rather than a standalone centre serving only local users. “Think about infrastructure as a bunch of super-connected supercomputers, all interconnected globally,” Janardhan said.
“The facility will not be limited to a single product or workload. It is being designed as a highly flexible data centre capable of supporting a wide range of services and AI workloads globally,” he added.
The executive explained that every interaction across Meta’s platforms, be it a Reel on Instagram, a WhatsApp message, or a comment from a user thousands of miles away, is powered by multiple data centres working together in real time.
“When you post a reel or comment on Instagram, someone from Europe, India, or the US can interact with it in real time. It’s not a single server or single computer handling this. It’s a series of interconnected data centres working together globally to make that happen,” he told indianexpress.com.
According to Janardhan, the Jamnagar facility will become part of Meta’s global infrastructure fleet, capable of supporting workloads across the company’s ecosystem rather than being dedicated to a specific product or region.
“The point I’m making is it takes a global network to enable a global network,” he said. “When we open the Jamnagar data centre, it will be part of a global fleet serving that global audience.”
The investment comes at a crucial time when technology companies are racing to expand their computing capacity to support increasingly demanding AI workloads. While Meta has not detailed exactly what AI functions will run from Jamnagar, Janardhan stressed the fact that flexibility is becoming a key requirement for modern infrastructure.
“If we do our job right, we should have a highly flexible data centre that can serve a lot of traffic around the world,” he said. “It won’t be restricted to just Instagram or WhatsApp; it will be capable of serving our entire ecosystem.”
India’s role in global tech infrastructure
For India, the announcement also signals growing recognition of the country’s role in global technology infrastructure. Janardhan said Meta’s decision was driven by a combination of consumer demand, infrastructure requirements, and India’s broader technology ecosystem.
In addition to describing India as an attractive investment destination, Janardhan said, “There’s a confluence of factors: consumer demand; our infrastructure needs; and the essential ingredients for a data centre, land, power, network, and cooling, all aligned well with what India offers and Meta needs.”
When asked what factors influence where Meta builds AI infrastructure, Janardhan argued that the answer extends far beyond real estate or energy availability. “Infrastructure is a loaded term,” he said. “It’s not just about data centres. It’s the hardware we deploy, the custom silicon we develop, and the engineers who work on all of this.”
For physical facilities, Meta evaluates four key requirements: land, power, network connectivity, and water. However, the company’s long-term investment decisions largely depend on the availability of talent and supportive policy environments. “Talent density” remains one of India’s biggest strengths, according to Janardhan.
“Do you have talent across a broad spectrum? Not just one or two domains, but across many like hardware, software, distributed systems, and silicon design,” he said. “India is one of the few countries that addresses this entire spectrum.”
He also pointed to India’s large English-speaking workforce and what he described as a technology-friendly government that provides stability for long-term investments. “The stability and partnership you get from the government matter enormously,” Janardhan said. “This is a government we’ve worked well with.”
Massive user base
According to the Meta executive, India’s massive user base also played a role. With hundreds of millions of Indians using Meta’s services daily, the country has become an important source of product feedback and innovation. “Having billions of people who use your products, know your products and can influence product direction helps,” he said. “It helps when you know what you’re building and you use what you’re building.”
As AI increasingly reshapes the technology industry, Meta’s Jamnagar investment suggests the company sees India not merely as a large consumer market but as a long-term partner in building the infrastructure that will power the next generation of digital services worldwide.
As part of the announcement of its AI-enabled data centre, the Mark Zuckerberg-led company also said that it was partnering with two leading clean energy providers in India, CleanMax and Fourth Partner Energy, to support nearly 1 GW of renewable energy.
Meta's VP of Infrastructure Santosh Janardhan explains why India has become a key destination for the company's AI ambitions. (Express Image/Meta) 
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