India – Tata Communications plans to invest between US$ 400 million and US$ 450 million to build around 10,000 kilometres of AI-ready fibre infrastructure across India, connecting key data centre hubs and supporting demand for high-capacity, low-latency connectivity.
Announced on 27 October, the investment will fund a three-phase network expansion linking major AI and data centre corridors across the country. The infrastructure will be integrated with Tata Communications’ global network backbone to provide connectivity for hyperscalers, AI platforms, neocloud providers and enterprises.
The expansion comes as cloud adoption, AI deployment, data localisation requirements and enterprise demand drive growth in India’s data centre sector. As computing capacity increases, connectivity between data centres is becoming an important requirement for supporting AI workloads and digital services.
“We are excited about the opportunity in the India data centre-to-data centre connectivity, which we believe could evolve into a market exceeding USD 1 billion over the medium term,” said Ganesh Lakshminarayanan, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Tata Communications.
“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.
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,” Lakshminarayanan continued.
The first phase will focus on the Mumbai–Pune–Hyderabad–Chennai corridor, which the company identifies as a key route for AI and hyperscale infrastructure. Later phases are expected to extend connectivity to data centre ecosystems in eastern and western India, including Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar, Jamnagar and GIFT City.
The network will also connect key AI corridors and data centre clusters with international cable landing stations, supporting links between India and global AI hubs. Tata Communications plans to expand its existing national long-distance and metropolitan networks alongside the new infrastructure to meet current enterprise and data centre connectivity requirements.
“The AI economy needs more than compute. It needs a network built for speed, scale and resilience. Tata Communications has long played a foundational role in enabling India’s digital economy, and our AI Network Fabric builds on that legacy,” said Rupesh Chokshi, Chief Product and Technology Officer, Executive Vice President and Global Business Head – Network Services at Tata Communications.
“Our AI Network Fabric will give our global customers the ultra-low-latency, high-capacity and resilient connectivity they need to scale AI with confidence. By connecting India’s AI and data centre hubs to the world, we are enabling our customers to grow and helping fuel India’s next chapter of economic growth,” Chokshi continued.
The planned expansion builds on Tata Communications’ existing subsea and terrestrial fibre infrastructure, which spans more than 500,000 kilometres of subsea optical fibre and 200,000 kilometres of terrestrial fibre, according to the company.
In June 2026, the company outlined plans for a new subsea cable system between Mumbai and Singapore and said it had invested as part of a consortium in another system connecting Chennai and Singapore, with service expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2029. In 2025, it integrated the TGN IA2 submarine cable, adding network capacity and routing diversity across Asia.
