India’s 5-GW Data Center Scenario Could Need 30 GW to 40 GW of Renewable Power

India’s data-center expansion could increase demand for renewable generation, with a five-gigawatt capacity scenario requiring 30 GW to 40 GW of renewable power, CleanMax founder and managing director Kuldeep Jain estimated.

“It’s a case of demand exceeding supply,” Jain said. His estimate applies to a conditional scenario in which India reaches five GW of data-center capacity, not to the country’s entire current or planned data-center fleet. It concerns renewable generation capacity rather than the amount of electricity data centers would consume over a year. Jain did not specify when the five-GW scenario might be reached; the estimate is not a government target.

India had about 1,575 megawatts of installed data-center capacity in August, compared with 375 MW in 2020. Data-center power demand is projected to reach about 17 GW by fiscal year 2031-32. Installed capacity describes the size of facilities, while the 17-GW figure is a projection of power demand.

Annual data-center electricity use is projected to rise from 11 terawatt-hours in 2025 to 636 TWh in 2050. That 2050 level would equal about 11% of India’s total electricity consumption that year. Coal currently supplies about 68% of the country’s electricity.

The figures cover different measures and time horizons. The 17-GW projection describes power demand by fiscal year 2031-32; Jain’s 30-to-40-GW estimate is renewable generation capacity for a five-GW data-center scenario; and 636 TWh is projected annual electricity use in 2050. Gigawatts measure power capacity or demand, while terawatt-hours measure electricity used over time, so these figures are not directly comparable.

Separately, CleanMax and Meta announced a renewable-energy partnership on June 10 covering 837 MW of solar and wind projects in Rajasthan and Karnataka. CleanMax will develop and operate the projects, and Meta will purchase all of their environmental attributes. The announcement does not state that the projects’ electricity will be physically delivered to Meta’s data centers.

NITI Aayog published its Data Centre Evaluation Framework on Oct. 14. The framework urges states to check whether local grids can handle proposed data centers and to weigh renewable supply paired with storage. The framework is intended to support state decisions rather than add a new layer of regulation.