June 19, 2026, (Inside AI) — Meta is constructing an AI-enabled data centre in Jamnagar, India, through a partnership with Reliance Industries. The facility will provide 168 megawatts of capacity and join Meta's global network of interconnected computing systems.
Santosh Janardhan, Vice President of Infrastructure at Meta, confirmed the investment during a media roundtable on Thursday. He positioned the centre as a node in a worldwide fleet, not a standalone server for local users.
"It will be part of a global fleet serving that global audience. We're opening this data centre in India because we think India is an attractive investment destination," Janardhan said.
The Global Network Behind Every Click
Janardhan described Meta's infrastructure as a mesh of supercomputers working in real time. A single Instagram Reel or WhatsApp message triggers a chain of data centres across continents.
"When you post a reel or comment on Instagram, someone from Europe, India, or the US can interact with it in real time. It's not a single server or single computer handling this. It's a series of interconnected data centres working together globally to make that happen," he told indianexpress.com.
The Jamnagar site will handle diverse AI workloads across Meta's ecosystem. Flexibility is the design priority, not dedication to one product or region.
"If we do our job right, we should have a highly flexible data centre that can serve a lot of traffic around the world," Janardhan said. "It won't be restricted to just Instagram or WhatsApp; it will be capable of serving our entire ecosystem."
Why India Won the Bid
Meta's choice hinged on a rare alignment of factors. Consumer demand, infrastructure needs, and essential resources converged in Gujarat.
"There's a confluence of factors: consumer demand; our infrastructure needs; and the essential ingredients for a data centre, land, power, network, and cooling, all aligned well with what India offers and Meta needs," Janardhan explained.
He stressed that infrastructure decisions go beyond real estate. Meta evaluates hardware, custom silicon, and engineering talent. India's "talent density" across hardware, software, distributed systems, and silicon design stood out.
"Do you have talent across a broad spectrum? Not just one or two domains, but across many like hardware, software, distributed systems, and silicon design," he said. "India is one of the few countries that addresses this entire spectrum."
A large English-speaking workforce and a technology-friendly government added stability. "The stability and partnership you get from the government matter enormously. This is a government we've worked well with," Janardhan noted.
User Base as Innovation Engine
India's hundreds of millions of daily users provide a feedback loop that shapes product direction. Janardhan sees this as a strategic advantage.
"Having billions of people who use your products, know your products and can influence product direction helps," he said. "It helps when you know what you're building and you use what you're building."
The investment arrives as tech giants scramble for AI computing capacity. While Meta did not specify which AI functions will run from Jamnagar, the flexible design signals readiness for evolving demands.
Meta also announced renewable energy partnerships with CleanMax and Fourth Partner Energy to support nearly 1 GW of clean power, aligning the data centre with sustainability goals.
