Ambani commits Rs 10 lakh cr Reliance AI infrastructure push

At the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi, Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani outlined a multi-year investment plan, positioning artificial intelligence (AI) as a central component of India’s economic development strategy.

Sharing his insights on how AI can drive Viksit Bharat (developed India), Ambani highlighted the country's ambition to become one of the world’s leading AI powers by 2047, marking the centenary of Independence. He described AI as a foundational technology that will shape productivity, public services and industrial growth over the coming decades.

Ambani placed the initiative within the broader policy direction set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, linking AI development to India’s long-term economic and social objectives.

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India’s Digital and Demographic Advantage

Ambani characterised AI as a transformative technology capable of augmenting human capability across sectors, while acknowledging global concerns over the concentration of compute resources and the risk of widening inequality. He argued that India’s approach should focus on affordability, accessibility and domestic capability.

He stated that India’s structural advantages include its large population, digital public infrastructure, and data ecosystem. He cited nearly one billion internet users, 1.4 billion Aadhaar digital identities and more than 12 billion monthly UPI transactions as indicators of digital penetration. He also noted India’s startup ecosystem, with over 100,000 ventures and more than 100 unicorns.

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Rs 10 Lakh Crore Capital Commitment

Central to the address was an investment commitment of Rs 10 lakh crore over the next seven years by Reliance Industries and its telecom subsidiary, Jio Platforms. Ambani described the commitment as long-term capital expenditure focused on building domestic AI infrastructure rather than short-term financial returns.

He said the investment would prioritise foundational assets required for AI development, including compute capacity, renewable energy integration and nationwide network infrastructure.

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Building Sovereign Compute Infrastructure

A key component of the plan involves the development of multi-gigawatt AI-ready data centres in Jamnagar. More than 120 megawatts of capacity is expected to become operational in the second half of 2026, with the potential to scale to gigawatt-level compute for model training and inference workloads.

Ambani said compute scarcity and high costs remain primary constraints in AI deployment globally. To address this, Jio Intelligence will focus on three areas: hyperscale data centre infrastructure, access to renewable power, and a distributed edge-compute network integrated with Jio’s telecom footprint.

He noted that Reliance’s renewable energy portfolio includes up to 10 gigawatts of surplus capacity, supported by solar projects in Kutch and Andhra Pradesh. The edge-compute layer, he said, would enable low-latency AI services for enterprises, small businesses and public institutions across India.

Sectoral Deployment and Ecosystem Development

Ambani outlined five operating principles for Jio Intelligence: strengthening deep-tech and advanced manufacturing capabilities; enabling multilingual AI across Indian languages; ensuring data security and domestic data residency; generating high-skill employment; and fostering an ecosystem to scale AI adoption.

Sectoral use cases highlighted during the address included AI-assisted education tools in multiple Indian languages, mobile-based preliminary healthcare guidance systems, and agricultural advisory services combining satellite imagery with weather data. Additional initiatives referenced included voice-first digital assistants for citizen services and AI-enabled consumer devices.

Concluding his remarks, Ambani called for international collaboration in AI development, arguing that shared standards and cooperative frameworks would be essential to ensuring broad-based benefits.

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