Centre tapping Big Tech companies for data centres, R&D in West Bengal

The Centre has approached global technology giants and Indian conglomerates to invest in data centres, R&D hubs, GCCs and semiconductor projects in West Bengal

The central government has approached global techn­ology majors such as Google, Amazon and Microsoft, along with Indian conglomerates like Reliance Industries and the Adani Group, to push investments in data centres, hyperscalers, and research and development (R&D) hubs in West Bengal.

 

Talks are also underway to attract semiconductor comp­a­nies to set up operations in the state, while efforts are being made to bring more global capability centres (GCCs) to West Bengal. Some of these investments are expected to be finalised and announced in June.

 

The push comes after the Bharatiya Janata Party’s victory in the state elections, ending the 15-year rule of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) led by Mamata Banerjee. Reviving industrial and economic growth in West Bengal was a key plank of the BJP’s election campaign.

 

Confirming the renewed push to attract industry to the state, a senior official in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) said: “Yes, we are sounding out global Big Tech firms such as Google, Amaz­on and Microsoft, as well as Indian players like Reliance and the Adanis, to invest in West Bengal. We are in talks with them and the response has been positive for setting up data centres as well as R&D centres in the state.”

 

West Bengal has lagged behind in information techn­o­logy (IT) and IT-enabled services (ITeS). The state accounted for just 2.1 per cent of total software exports from Software Technology Parks of India (STPIs) and Special Economic Zone in FY25, ranking seventh among states. Karnataka led with a 35 per cent share, followed by Maha­rashtra (19.1 per cent), Telang­ana (15.3 per cent), Tamil Nadu (12.8 per cent), Haryana (5.3 per cent), and Uttar Pradesh (4.6 per cent).

 

The state has also trailed in the data centre segment. According to Real estate consultant CBRE, the Kolkata hub accounted for only 1 per cent of overall data centre capacity addition between January and September 2025, behind Pune (5 per cent) and Hyderabad (4 per cent).

 

Mumbai remains the country’s largest data centre hub, accounting for 53 per cent of India’s total capacity, followed by Chennai (20 per cent), Delhi-NCR (10 per cent), and Bengaluru (7 per cent). Industry estimates suggest Kolkata currently has around 6-8 operational data centres, while another 6-10 are under construction or have been announced.

 

However, several major players, including Reliance and the Adani Group, have already acquired substantial land parcels in the Bengal Silicon Valley Tech Hub, conceived in 2018 to attract data centres, deeptech and AI infrastructure companies.

 

Reliance had tied up with Microsoft to build two international data centres and a technology centre with an investment of ₹1,000 crore. Nxtra by Airtel, backed by Sunil Bharti Mittal, is also close to opening its data centre in the state.

 

In the runup to the elections, the BJP had criticised the TMC government for the state’s economic decline. West Bengal, which had ranked third in per capita income in 1960-61, when it stood 27.5 per cent above the national average, stands at 24th place currently, with average income estimated at 16.3 per cent below the national average.