As Alphabet Inc.’s Google and other US tech behemoths pledge billions of dollars to build artificial intelligence infrastructure in India, investors are racing to identify local firms set to benefit from the wave of investments.
The creation of an AI ecosystem offers a fresh opportunity to investors in India’s $5.4 trillion market, which has so far trailed this year’s global equities rally in part due to an absence of pure-play AI names like US chipmaker Nvidia Corp. and Chinese chip designer Cambricon Technologies Corp.
Investors are turning to local ancillary companies, from equipment makers to power generators, that are expected to benefit from the build-out of supporting facilities needed for AI — one of the hottest equity trades globally. Investments in India’s data centre market alone are projected to top $100 billion by 2027, according to CBRE Group Inc.
“India is powering the AI era through the infrastructure needed to run it — the servers and energy capacity,” said Shambhavi Gupta, founder of global macro insights platform Nine Spot Seven. “Unlike the tech rally, this one is rooted in tangible assets.”
A custom index tracking shares of 10 such ancillary companies has jumped more than 30 per cent since this year’s low in April when President Donald Trump’s tariff shocks rocked global markets. That’s almost double the gains in the benchmark NSE Nifty 50 Index during the period.
Global tech heavyweights are fueling the momentum. Google last month outlined plans to invest about $15 billion building an AI infrastructure hub in southern India in partnership with some local firms. ChatGPT-maker OpenAI is also seeking to build a massive data centre in the nation, Bloomberg News reported in September.
Earlier this year, Microsoft Corp. said it aims to spend $3 billion to expand its cloud-computing and AI capabilities in India. Amazon.com Inc. already has plans to invest $12.7 billion by 2030.
Here are some of the potential beneficiaries of this boom and their stock performance over the past three months:
Data Centre Operators and Partners
AdaniConneX Pvt. — a joint venture involving tycoon Gautam Adani’s flagship Adani Enterprises Ltd. (+2.1% over three months), and India No. 2 wireless carrier Bharti Airtel Ltd. (+7.3%), is partnering with Google on its project in the port city of Visakhapatnam. Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd. (+6.9%) is also expected to spend as much as $15 billion for a one-gigawatt data centre. The three companies together may account for 35%-40% of India’s data centre capacity by 2030, according to Jefferies Financial Group Inc.
India’s biggest software exporter Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (+0.7%) also plans to build an AI data centre of up to one gigawatt, while OpenAI is scouting local partners for its establishment.
Meanwhile, Sify Infinit Spaces Ltd. one of India’s data-centre pioneers, last month filed for a 3,700-crore ($417 million) initial public offering. Fractal Analytics, India’s first AI unicorn that provides related products and services, also filed for an IPO in August.
Electrical and Power Equipment
A large portion of capital expenditure for data centres is expected to flow towards electrical and power equipment, including makers of switchgears, transformers and power distribution units.
Stocks to watch out for: Hitachi Energy India Ltd. (-12%), which provides end-to-end electrification equipment for data centres; Siemens Ltd. (+2.1%), Schneider Electric Infrastructure Ltd. (-17%) and ABB India Ltd. (-5.3%), which offer power distribution systems and industrial equipment.
“The data centre investments are going to be a big boost to the power sector in India,” said Ashish Gupta, chief investment officer at Axis Mutual Fund, which has about $40 billion in assets. Power and related costs would account for about 40 per cent of capital expenditure incurred for data centres, he said.
Also in the fray are makers of cables and wires such as Havells India Ltd. (-0.5%), RR Kabel Ltd. (-2%) and Dynamic Cables Ltd. (+0.4%). Ashit Mangal, managing director at Dynamic Cables, touted data centres as a “huge” opportunity in the company’s latest earnings call.
Cooling Solutions
The heavy energy use from AI workload generates significant heat, needing specialised cooling systems, especially during India’s scorching summer. Blue Star Ltd. (+11%) and Voltas Ltd. (+4.2%) are among largest local companies providing such solutions that are suitable for data centres.
Server and Cloud Infrastructure
Beyond power and cooling, data centres also need the physical computing backbone. Netweb Technologies India Ltd. (+99%) is being touted as a key player in servers, storage, backup and supercomputing solutions. E2E Networks Ltd. (+49%) provides cloud infrastructure and managed services, with a focus on high-performance computing for AI.
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Published on November 1, 2025
