AI data centres’ 26.3 GW power demand calls for larger electric grid investments in India

Artificial intelligence data centres will add an extra 26.3 gigawatts (GW) to India’s power demand by 2031-32, the government told the Rajya Sabha on Monday. The number is a useful marker of how much the country’s power needs are changing, and why the grid connecting power plants to homes and factories will need to expand alongside generation capacity.

As per the written reply, peak demand is set to rise by roughly a third over the next five years, over Rs 9 lakh crore has already been earmarked for transmission under the National Electricity Plan, and renewable capacity is being added far faster than coal or gas.