Gandhinagar: Gujarat has received investment proposals worth more than Rs 23 lakh crore for 27 data centre projects, with a combined proposed capacity of around 24 gigawatts (GW), within four months of announcing its data centre policy. Dholera is the biggest draw, with 19 proposals, a proposed capacity of 17GW, and investments exceeding Rs 18 lakh crore.The response surpasses the targets of the Viksit Gujarat Data Centre Policy 2026-29, which has envisaged investments of over Rs 6 lakh crore and 7.5GW of data centre capacity.Reliance Industries, Adani Infra, HyperVault, Welspun, Torrent Power, UPL, and L&T are among the major companies that have submitted proposals.Dholera, the smart industrial city in Ahmedabad district, is the preferred destination for large-scale investments and accounts for nearly three-fourths of the proposed capacity.“These investments will strengthen the state’s position as a strategic hub for hyperscale AI computing and secure data hosting, supporting the rapidly growing digital infrastructure needs of India and the world,” said a source.Unveiled on July 9, the policy seeks to attract large investments through financial incentives, infrastructure support, and regulatory relaxations. Eligible projects get a power tariff subsidy of Re 1 per unit for 20 years from the start of commercial operations, plus 100% reimbursement of electricity duty for the same period. Land purchases or leases are fully exempt from stamp duty and registration charges.The incentives include reimbursement of 100% SGST paid on eligible plant, machinery, buildings, and allied infrastructure for eight years from the date of in-principle approval, subject to permanent reversal of input tax credit.Eligible operational services consumed within Gujarat qualify for reimbursement of 100% net SGST for 20 years after commercial operations begin.Because data centres need large amounts of water, the policy helps fund captive desalination plants, capped at 20% of eligible capital expenditure or Rs 2 crore per million litres per day, whichever is lower.Govt has also promised dual power supply, open-access power procurement, round-the-clock water supply, faster statutory clearances and help in obtaining distribution licences.
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