India's growing clean energy capacity can support data centre expansion: MNRE Additional Secy

India's expanding renewable energy capacity can support the growing electricity demand from data centres, with the country well-equipped to meet their future power requirements, Mayank Tewari, Additional Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), said.

India's expanding renewable energy capacity can support the growing electricity demand from data centres, with the country well-equipped to meet their future power requirements, Mayank Tewari, Additional Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), said. Speaking exclusively to ANI on the sidelines of the Central Electricity Authority's (CEA) 53rd Foundation Day brainstorming event, Tewari said the government has decided to support the setting up of more data centres in the country.

"As a country, we have decided that we will support the setting up of data centres," he told ANI. Tewari said India's ability to rapidly expand renewable energy generation puts it in a strong position to support the power requirements of the growing data centre industry.

"We have demonstrated an ability to ramp up and create a lot of green energy at speed. Renewable energy is something that is now abundantly available in this country and growing," he said. He added that data centres would also provide a source of demand for the additional electricity being generated in the country.

"It is with this understanding that we feel that we are in a position to now host data centres because they provide for the energy that we are creating adequate and useful load centres," Tewari said. On the expected electricity demand from data centres, Tewari said their initial requirement could be around 20–23 gigawatts (GW), although he did not have the exact figures.

"My understanding is that the initial anticipation is that data centres would probably require a little over 20 to 23 gigawatts to begin with," he told ANI. He expressed confidence that India would be able to meet additional demand if electricity requirements rise further.

"In case there is an increase in that requirement, of course, we'll have the ability to meet it," he said. Tewari said more data centres were expected to come up in India and the country's growing renewable energy capacity would help support their operations.

His remarks come amid growing concerns over the electricity consumption of data centres as artificial intelligence and digital services expand, increasing the need for reliable power supply. (ANI)