Telangana Positioned to Lead India’s AI and Data Centre Growth: ASSOCHAM Summit
Hyderabad, May 28 (TNT): Government officials and industry leaders at the 10th Smart Datacenters & Cloud Infrastructure Summit 2026 organised by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) on Thursday highlighted Telangana’s emergence as a major hub for data centres, artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure.
The summit, held on the theme “Accelerating Telangana: Powering India’s Digital Economy through Data Centers, AI & Cloud” at Trident Hyderabad, brought together policymakers, technology experts, industry leaders and senior government officials to deliberate on the future of India’s digital economy and AI-led infrastructure growth.
Addressing the inaugural session, Nikhil Chakravarthi J, Commissioner and Director of Industries, Government of Telangana, reaffirmed the State government’s commitment to creating world-class digital infrastructure and attracting global investments into the data centre ecosystem.
“We are committed to creating world-class infrastructure, reliable power, sustainable water resources, and a strong innovation ecosystem that enables the growth of the data centre economy in Telangana,” he said.
Senior industry leaders said Telangana was well-positioned to benefit from the rapid global growth of AI, cloud computing and autonomous enterprise technologies.
Lovneesh Chanana, Senior Vice President & Head of Government Affairs (Asia Pacific), SAP Asia Pte Ltd and Chair of the ASSOCHAM IT/ITeS Council, said the global technology industry was moving from “software as a tool” to “software as a colleague,” with states capable of hosting AI infrastructure securely and sustainably expected to emerge as major growth centres.
Mr. Jatinder Singh Pabla, Co-Chair, ASSOCHAM Data Center Council and Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (India), Said, India was entering a new phase of AI-driven infrastructure expansion led by large-scale inferencing demand, adding that Telangana’s policy clarity and digital readiness gave it a strong advantage in the sector.
Industry representatives from Techno Digital, AdaniConneX, Sify Infinit Spaces Limited and CtrlS also highlighted Telangana’s growing role in India’s digital infrastructure expansion.
During a fireside discussion on energy resilience, Navin Mittal said Telangana had recorded nearly 10 per cent growth in peak power demand this year and was rapidly strengthening its energy ecosystem to support industries and AI-driven infrastructure.
The summit featured discussions on AI governance, green data centres, cybersecurity, energy resilience, cloud and edge infrastructure, workforce readiness and digital skilling.
ASSOCHAM Secretary General Saurabh Sanyal said the summit reflected ASSOCHAM’s commitment to building resilient, secure and sustainable digital infrastructure through collaboration between government, industry and academia.
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