InterGlobix Magazine Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Jasmine Bedi, sat down in conversation with Ankit Saraiya to discuss how artificial intelligence (AI), power constraints, and sustainability are shaping the evolution of infrastructure. In this conversation, Ankit shares why India represents a structurally different opportunity for AI infrastructure and how Techno Digital is building for that shift.
AI is driving unprecedented infrastructure demand globally. What fundamental shifts do you see in how digital infrastructure needs to be designed to support workloads at scale?
Traditional infrastructure models especially in the West, have been built around proximity to consumption points, availability zones, and if you’re part of a community of data centers in a particular area. However, they’re not the only factors driving this sector of digital infrastructure.
With AI workloads scaling rapidly, data center sizes are growing, too, and they’re moving beyond city centers and core regions. Facilities are moving beyond dense urban clusters toward locations where power can be secured at scale, closer to transmission networks and generation sources. The key question today is not just where you can deploy compute, but where you can reliably source power, and in what quantity.
Yes, chips will fundamentally dictate supply chain, but where can you get the power to make it all come together? You can procure GPUs, you can raise capital, but you cannot quickly create grid capacity. That takes years.
In India specifically, sourcing power is not straightforward. We’ve seen significant reforms in generation, and transmission has gradually opened to private participation. Today, the private sector accounts for nearly 50% of inter-state transmission infrastructure, having taken almost two decades to reach this stage. What this tells us is that infrastructure is shifting toward those who can solve for power. Power is no longer just an input to digital infrastructure, it is the governing constraint that determines scale, location, economics, and competitive advantage. In the AI era, the most valuable infrastructure asset isn’t a data center. It’s a secured megawatt . You cannot build a gigawatt-scale data center without first solving for the fundamental resource required to run it.
While much of the industry conversation is centered around compute, you’ve consistently emphasized power as the real constraint. How should global enterprises rethink infrastructure planning in a power-constrained world?
Power is not a pricing problem, it is a capacity problem.
Let me give you a practical example. Today, over 50% of India’s data center capacity is concentrated in Mumbai. Of the country’s ~1,700 MW operational data center capacity, more than 800 MW sits within a single city. That means close to 20% of the city’s transmission and distribution capacity is already supporting data centers.
Now, if we project forward assuming we reach 6GW of data center capacity by 2030 nearly half of that could continue to concentrate in one region if current patterns persist. That would imply close to 3GW of demand in a single region.
The reality is, transmission and distribution infrastructure will not scale at that pace. It simply cannot grow five to six times within that timeframe.
This is where infrastructure planning must fundamentally change. It’s not about paying more for power, you cannot access capacity if it doesn’t exist. Even if you’re willing to pay a premium, you can secure GPUs faster than you can secure power.
That’s why we strongly advocate for a shift moving data centers closer to where transmission capacity exists, rather than forcing infrastructure into already constrained urban hubs. Because in the end, availability is not dictated by price, it is dictated by infrastructure.
For global hyperscalers and enterprises evaluating new markets, how do you position India as a strategic destination for AI and cloud infrastructure deployment?
India is not just a demand market, it is increasingly becoming a market where AI infrastructure can scale efficiently. It offers a unique combination of geopolitical stability, strong global relationships, and a policy environment that is becoming progressively more supportive of digital infrastructure investments from infrastructure status for data centers to long-term tax incentives for foreign cloud providers using India-based facilities.
From a physical infrastructure standpoint, India also has inherent advantages. Being a peninsula, it has strong potential for both eastern and western subsea connectivity. It has one of the largest land banks in the region, which makes it possible to develop infrastructure at scale. And importantly, it has significant renewable energy potential, particularly in solar.
But what really differentiates India is the combination of scale and resource availability.
In many mature markets, infrastructure expansion is constrained by land, power, or both. India offers a different equation, one where large-scale deployments are still feasible, and where infrastructure can be designed for long-term efficiency.
If connectivity continues to evolve alongside this, India has the potential to move beyond being just a domestic market and become a global infrastructure hub including for export-oriented workloads.
As demand accelerates, speed of deployment and execution certainty are becoming mission-critical for new product and service launches. What should global players look for in an infrastructure partner to ensure reliable, timely, large-scale rollouts?
For global players, the most important question is whether a partner has a proven track record of developing, executing, and operating large-scale infrastructure projects. This goes beyond design, it comes down to operational discipline, process maturity, and the ability to deliver consistently under pressure.
Equally important is control over the supply chain. Whether it is diesel generators, transformers, or cooling systems, timely delivery depends on how strong and established those relationships are. That’s where Techno Digital is fundamentally different.
We bring over four decades of experience in developing large-scale infrastructure across India. In fact, we have contributed to nearly 50% of the country’s power generation and transmission capacity in one capacity or another. That experience gives us a deep understanding of how to build and scale infrastructure in complex environments.
We also approach this sector differently. We don’t look at data centers as isolated assets or just a real estate play, we see them as end-to-end infrastructure systems.
From land acquisition and government approvals to execution on the ground and operational readiness, we manage the entire lifecycle. Our EPC background gives us control over time, cost, and quality; the three variables that ultimately determine success in digital infrastructure at scale.
With AI inference, real-time applications, and distributed workloads growing, how important is a core-to-edge architecture in the overall infrastructure strategy?
While model training has driven the initial wave of infrastructure demand, we are now reaching a point where improvements will come more from how models are deployed and applied, rather than just scaling datasets.
Inference is fundamentally about delivering precise, real-time outcomes to the end user. To do that effectively, it requires low latency, faster processing, and proximity to where the user interaction is happening.
That’s where edge infrastructure becomes critical. Edge allows you to bring intelligence closer to the user improving responsiveness, accuracy, and overall experience quality. It also enables more efficient use of resources by reducing the need to route every interaction through centralized infrastructure.
Over time, we may see inference models becoming more efficient and requiring fewer resources. But proximity will remain essential. Edge does not replace core infrastructure, it complements it. Our nationwide edge rollout with RailTel across 23 states is built precisely for this reality, bringing inference capacity to where users actually are, not just where it is convenient to build.
In a market where capacity announcements are increasing exponentially, how is Techno Digital approaching infrastructure differently, particularly in terms of power integration, grid readiness, and execution?
The industry is going through a fundamental shift; one we haven’t seen before.
For the first time, digital infrastructure demand is reshaping the power sector, and at the same time, power is constraining digital infrastructure.
At Techno Digital, we are very conscious of this inflection point. Rather than simply scaling what has worked in the past, we are taking a more deliberate approach understanding how the entire infrastructure landscape is evolving, from power availability and grid readiness to land, water, and connectivity.
This is not about reacting to demand, it is about anticipating where the next phase of demand will emerge. Our focus is on identifying those inflection points early and positioning ourselves to be first movers in the right locations.
We are not trying to replicate existing models or “one-up” what has already been built. We are building for a different reality; one where infrastructure must be power-aligned, location-aware, and integrated across the entire stack. That’s where our approach is different. We are bringing together all the moving parts power, land, execution, and operations into a unified, end-to-end infrastructure platform, designed to support AI and next-generation workloads at scale.
Sustainability is now a boardroom priority for global enterprises. How can data center infrastructure deliver both environmental responsibility and operational efficiency at scale?
Sustainability in data center infrastructure is fundamentally an energy question. At scale, the challenge is not just to use renewable energy, it is to do so while maintaining cost efficiency and reliability. That balance is critical, especially as AI workloads increase power intensity.
At Techno Digital, our approach is rooted in our power infrastructure background. We focus on integrating renewable energy into our operations in a way that supports both sustainability and long-term economics.
Today, we are among the few operators in India capable of delivering up to 80% renewable energy across our data centers, with a target of reaching 95% to 100% by 2030 while still delivering power at competitive sub-7-cent levels.
At the same time, infrastructure must also serve the communities it operates in. Digital infrastructure is often questioned because its impact is not always visible. So, responsibility must be built in from the foundation from how land is developed to how local ecosystems are supported. At Techno Digital, we focus on creating a positive local impact through tangible community initiatives supporting schools, libraries, healthcare access, local public infrastructure development in the regions where we operate alongside ensuring that the infrastructure itself is both environmentally responsible and socially inclusive.
For us, that means combining environmental efficiency with community integration ensuring that infrastructure is not only sustainable in how it operates, but also in how it is perceived and experienced locally.
If you had to define one principle that will shape global digital infrastructure in the AI era, what would it be?
One major principle would be understanding of power/energy and related regulations/practices within the country where you want to set up your infrastructure.
At the same time, there is a fundamental shift in how we need to think about data centers. They are not commercial or residential buildings; they are industrial systems.
They operate on high-voltage and low-voltage power environments within highly constrained spaces, and require deep expertise in how energy is distributed, managed, and optimized. Those who understand power technically, operationally, and within the context of each market will ultimately define how infrastructure is built and scaled in the AI era.
Informal interaction: In a fast-paced world with your responsibilities as Director and Chief Executive Officer of a growing company, how are you able to balance your professional commitments with your personal life?
In India, work-life balance has been quite a debate, and I don’t know if I fully understand the concept myself. I don’t have two lives; I have one. There is no separate life for me at work — I love it, and it’s part of what I’m breathing every moment, no matter what else I’m doing.
That said, family is extremely important to me. Spending time with my parents whether in person or even just a couple of hours on the phone helps keep me grounded and gives me perspective.
I also enjoy reading, especially subjects like mythology, religion, and science. They help me step back and think beyond day-to-day work.
For me, it’s not about balance in the traditional sense, it’s about being fully present in what matters.
Read insights from Ankit Saraiya, Director and CEO, TEECL, in this Interglobix magazine article on Power and Potential of Data Centers in India
