HCLTech announces Rs 14,257 crore AI data centre in Odisha with Sarvam; stock gains

HCLTech on Friday announced that it plans to set up its first AI Data Center in the upcoming Odisha Sovereign AI Park in partnership with Sarvam and the Government of Odisha.

In an exchange filing, the company said the AI data center will be established as part of its proposed entry into the full-stack AI market.

The filing added that "the planned capital outlay for the project will be Rs 14,257 crore, including financial assistance from the Government of Odisha."

According to the company, the investment "will boost India's sovereign AI play and local developer ecosystem by leveraging HCLTech's full-stack AI capabilities and Sarvam's foundation models to offer sector-specific AI applications to private and public sector enterprises and address the government's sovereignty needs."

It also said the project "will also contribute to delivery of multi-lingual AI based services to the last mile, in line with Hon'ble Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi's clarion call of AI for the benefit of everyone."

Commenting on the development, HCLTech Chairperson Roshni Nadar Malhotra said, "HCLTech has been a flagbearer of India's technology industry. In line with the Digital India and Atmanirbhar Bharat vision of Hon'ble Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi, we strive to be an enabler of India's sovereign AI ecosystem with differentiated offerings across the value chain through focused investments and partnerships. We are pleased to start this endeavor in partnership with Odisha government and Sarvam."

CEO & Managing Director C Vijayakumar said, "This is an important milestone in our full-stack AI play and will enable us to serve the large demand for sovereign AI solutions and unlock the scale of our strategic partnership with Sarvam. Odisha offers a progressive policy environment backed by excellent infrastructure and we look forward to working with them in collaboration with Sarvam."

Sarvam Co-Founder Pratyush Kumar said, "The Odisha Sovereign AI Park will connect high-performance compute with Indian models and real-world applications. Together with HCLTech, we are excited to bring Sarvam's full-stack AI capabilities to enterprises and public systems at scale."

Shares of HCL Technologies extended gains to 1.28% and were trading at Rs 1,260.60 on the BSE at around 12:45 pm.