Tata to build US$450m ‘AI super highway’ linking India’s data centre hubs

Details: John Tanner; Category: Optical & Fixed Networks; 27 October 2026; 442 views

Tata Communications announced on Monday it will invest nearly US$450 million to build 10,000 km of long-haul fibre infrastructure linking India’s key data centre corridors and AI hubs to create a national “AI super highway”.

Tata said it will carry out the project in three phases, starting with the Mumbai-Pune-Hyderabad-Chennai corridor, which it describes as one of India’s most important AI and hyperscale growth routes.

Subsequent phases will expand connectivity into emerging East Coast and Western India data centre ecosystems, including Vizag, Bhubaneswar, Jamnagar, GIFT City and other strategic locations.

Tata said the AI fibre corridors will be integrated with its global network backbone, providing global hyperscalers, AI platforms, neo-cloud providers and enterprises with a seamless, end-to-end connectivity fabric, supporting the performance, resilience and scale required for next-generation AI workloads.

By linking the key AI corridors and data centre clusters with international cable landing stations, Tata aims to enable seamless connectivity between India and major global AI hubs across, positioning India as a strategic gateway in the global digital infrastructure landscape.

Ganesh Lakshminarayanan, MD and CEO of Tata Communications, said Indian data centre-to-data centre connectivity could evolve into a market exceeding US$1 billion over the medium term.

“With our planned investments, we are building on our existing strengths to create one of the most comprehensive data centre connectivity platforms in the market, positioning us to capture this significant growth opportunity,” he said in a statement. “As we scale, a growing proportion of our expansion is being driven by anchor customer commitments and contracted demand, providing a strong foundation for sustainable growth, efficient capital deployment and long-term value creation.”