Tata Communications has announced an investment of approximately $450 million to establish a 10,000-kilometre high-speed fibre network aimed at connecting India’s artificial intelligence (AI) data centre corridors with major business hubs. This initiative is designed to address the increasing demand for connectivity from cloud service providers and enterprises. The company revealed this investment in a stock exchange filing on Monday, October 26, indicating that the expansion will add around 6 petabits per second (Pbps) of network capacity.

The additional capacity is expected to be implemented between the financial years 2030 and 2036. Tata Communications stated that the funding for this project will be sourced from its operating cash flows, as detailed in the filing submitted to the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and BSE.

The proposed network, referred to as an “AI Super Highway” by the company, aims to link data centre clusters with hyperscalers, cloud service providers, global capability centres (GCCs), banks, and other enterprises that require high-speed and reliable data connections.

Three-Phase Expansion Plan

The rollout of the network will occur in three distinct phases. The initial phase will focus on the Mumbai-Pune-Hyderabad-Chennai corridor, which has been identified as a crucial route for AI and hyperscale development in India. Subsequent phases will extend connectivity to the east coast and western regions, including data centre ecosystems in Visakhapatnam (Vizag), Bhubaneswar, Jamnagar, and GIFT City.

This expansion is intended to connect India’s primary AI and data centre hubs with international cable landing stations, thereby facilitating connectivity between domestic facilities and significant global AI centres. Tata Communications has stated that this investment will enhance India’s standing as a global gateway for AI and cloud connectivity, catering to the needs of hyperscalers, digital platforms, multinational corporations, and emerging cloud services.

Currently, Tata Communications operates with a network capacity of 1.25 Pbps, with utilisation rates hovering around 70 to 80 per cent. The planned addition of approximately 6 Pbps is set to considerably increase its capacity to manage the rising volume of data traffic.

Growth in Network Capacity and Future Prospects

The existing network infrastructure of Tata Communications includes over 500,000 kilometres of subsea optical fibre and more than 200,000 kilometres of terrestrial fibre. The forthcoming expansion is expected to build upon this infrastructure to accommodate the increasing demand for AI workloads and cloud services.

Ganesh Lakshminarayanan, Managing Director and CEO of Tata Communications, remarked that the company perceives a significant opportunity in the data centre-to-data centre connectivity sector, which is anticipated to grow into a market exceeding $1 billion in the medium term. He emphasised that the planned investments aim to leverage existing strengths to create a comprehensive data centre connectivity platform.

Rupesh Chokshi, Chief Product and Technology Officer, Executive Vice President, and Global Business Head for Network Services at Tata Communications, highlighted the necessity for a network that supports speed, scale, and resilience in the AI economy. He stated that AI requires more than just computational power; it necessitates a robust network infrastructure.

Amid rising demand for AI and cloud services, Tata Communications has indicated that India’s data centre industry is poised for growth as cloud adoption and AI deployment continue to expand. The company plans to enhance its existing national long-distance and metro networks alongside the new fibre infrastructure to meet current enterprise and data centre needs. The proposed capacity addition is planned over several years, specifically from FY2030 to FY2036.

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