The Chief Minister of Telangana, A Revanth Reddy, participated in the foundation stone laying ceremony for the Amazon data center on Wednesday. He strongly urged the company to invest 1 lakh crore rupees by 2034 in Bharat Future City, which is being developed by the state on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
During the event, which was attended by the State Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu and other officials, Reddy stated the government's plan to make Telangana a trillion-dollar economy by 2034, and a trillion-dollar economy by 2047. He also noted that the Union government aims to transform the country into a $30 trillion economy by 2047.
According to the Chief Minister, Telangana's current contribution to the national GDP is five percent, and the government intends to increase this share to ten percent. Achieving this goal requires investments, infrastructure development, and job creation.
The state presented a policy document outlining its vision for the 'Telangana Rising 2047' program. Reddy addressed the company, stating that its planned investment of seven billion dollars over the next fourteen years is insufficient for his dream of a one-trillion-dollar economy. He proposed that the company invest 1 lakh crore rupees in Bharat Future City by 2034.
The Chief Minister promised to provide the company with all necessary support and announced that he would hold monthly meetings with Amazon representatives to monitor the investment process. He also emphasized that the laying of the foundation stone for the Amazon Web Services data center will pave the way for other companies to establish operations in Bharat Future City.
Amazon is increasing its infrastructure investments to support India's ambitions in Digital India. According to a press release, the company has already invested over $1.3 billion in cloud infrastructure in the AWS Asia Pacific region (Hyderabad) by the end of 2025.
Furthermore, the company plans to invest over $21 billion in cloud infrastructure in India between 2026 and 2030, making it one of the largest global investors in AI and cloud infrastructure. These funds are part of a $48 billion investment plan recently announced by CEO Andy Jassy across all business verticals in India.
These investments will allow for the expansion of AWS data center capacities in Hyderabad and Mumbai, providing startups, enterprises, and government organizations access to specialized AI chips, hundreds of cloud and managed AI services, reliable cloud technologies, and developer tools to accelerate innovation, scaling, and customer service globally.
Anurag Hilnani, AWS Director of Data Center Delivery, noted that since launching AWS infrastructure in Hyderabad in 2022, the company has deepened its investments and commitment to creating sustainable cloud data center operations in Telangana to meet the growing demand of Digital India and the AI Mission of India.
Amazon has announced an investment of 24 million rand (equivalent to 1.5 million US dollars) through its Right Now Climate Fund. These funds are aimed at implementing a project for transformative nature restoration and enhancing community resilience in the Soweto area of Johannesburg.
The project is being implemented with the participation of the World Resources Institute (WRI) in collaboration with the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), the City of Johannesburg Council, Johannesburg Parks and Zoo, and the organization GenderCC Southern Africa. The main objective is to restore degraded river landscapes, create hundreds of jobs, and train over 1000 women so they can turn restoration work into sources of income.
Using Amazon Web Services (AWS) technologies, a urban heat map will be created to help city officials plan further climate change adaptation. The project focuses on restoring a 130-hectare corridor of the Klip River—a vital water source for Johannesburg and its surroundings. Work includes removing invasive species and solid waste, reintroducing native plants, and stabilizing riverbanks to improve water quality, reduce flood risk, and preserve local biodiversity. Additionally, 20,000 trees will be planted in Soweto areas.
Kara Hurst, Amazon's Director of Sustainability, emphasized that significant climate action must be accompanied by economic opportunities for communities most affected by climate change. She noted that this investment demonstrates how nature restoration projects contribute not only to improving ecosystems but also to job creation, women's empowerment, and building resilience. The initiative aims to provide long-term economic opportunities for Soweto residents.
The project is expected to provide around 300 jobs in nature restoration, including fields such as gardening, urban forestry, and native plant propagation. Furthermore, it will provide training to equip over 1000 women with technical skills and business knowledge to monetize restoration activities. Four urban farms and 20 school clubs will be established to expand these opportunities. In total, the project will directly impact over 2000 people, more than half of whom are women, and benefit over 200,000 residents through improved food security, reduced heat stress, and mitigated flooding.
Restoring natural ecosystems has a direct cooling effect on urban areas. This will be further supported by developing an urban heat stress map in Johannesburg. WRI's Cool Cities Lab platform provides city officials with temperature data down to the square meter, allowing them to apply cooling methods such as tree planting, installing cool roofs, and awnings in the most needy areas. AWS provides the computing power, machine learning technologies, and engineering support to scale this platform, making it more powerful and accessible to non-technical users like planners and community leaders. Prototypes of AI assistants will be developed within this framework, enabling officials to ask simple questions about local temperature conditions, thereby enhancing Cool Cities Lab's ability to accelerate the creation of climate resilience infrastructure.
This project is based on the SUNCASA (Scaling Urban Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa) project, co-managed by IISD and WRI. This project pioneered community-led river restoration and women-led enterprise development in Johannesburg, Kigali, and Dire Dawa. Janina Shnik, SUNCASA Project Lead at IISD, stated that climate change adaptation must be driven at the local level to achieve true effectiveness. She noted that investments in community-managed conservation solutions create a multiplier effect while simultaneously restoring ecosystems and generating livelihoods.
In 2019, Amazon established the Right Now Climate Fund, a $100 million initiative supporting nature conservation and climate resilience in various global communities. Since its launch, the fund has supported over 20 projects in 17 countries, restoring over 72,500 hectares of land and protecting over 2200 species. The Soweto greening project is the fund's first investment in Sub-Saharan Africa and aligns with South Africa's Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET IP 2023–2027), the City of Johannesburg Council's Climate Action Plan (2022), and the National Climate Change Act (2024), all of which prioritize job creation, community development, and ecological rehabilitation.
The Gujarat government on Thursday unveiled the 'Viksit Gujarat Data Centre Policy 2026-29' and announced that it has already received proposals from fourteen companies for data center creation, anticipating investments exceeding 6 lakh crore rupees in the initial phase.
During the presentation at the Mahatma Mandir Convention Centre, Minister of Science and Technology Arjun Modhwadia stated that the state aims to become India's leading hub for artificial intelligence and data centers over the next decade. He emphasized that Gujarat is the first state in the country to implement such a specialized policy.
Modhwadia informed reporters that about 14 investors in hyperscale data centers, including companies collaborating with global tech firms, have shown interest in Gujarat. He noted that a data center cluster with a capacity of 7–8 GW is planned in the Dholera area, which will attract investments of approximately 6–7 lakh crore rupees. Furthermore, one 1 GW data center requires an investment of 70,000 to 100,000 crore rupees, and investments exceeding 6 lakh crore rupees are expected in the first phase.
Modhwadia termed this data as the 'new wealth' of the digital economy. He compared the current situation in India, which has about 200 data centers with a capacity of around 2 GW, to the USA, which has nearly 5,500, and the UK, which has over 500. The policy is aimed not just at building data storage facilities but at creating a complete AI ecosystem, including artificial intelligence, cloud, and quantum computing.
Speaking at the inauguration, Patel stated that India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is becoming one of the world's largest producers and consumers of data, making digital infrastructure a key element of economic growth. He added that thanks to the Viksit Gujarat Data Centre Policy 2026-29, Gujarat will become the best place in the country to host data centers.
Patel also noted that the rapid growth in AI, cloud computing, electronics manufacturing, and digital services has created unprecedented demand for scalable digital infrastructure. He stressed that this policy reflects the state's commitment to sustainable and long-term development, playing an important role in building next-generation digital infrastructure for both Gujarat and the entire nation.
Vice-Premier Harsh Sanghavi stated that Dholera is intended to become the world's largest 'data center city,' and the government has already received requests from domestic and global companies seeking capacity almost double the target of 7.5 GW. Additionally, the government plans to transform Dholera into a Global Capability Center (GCC) hub, supported by a new airport and a semi-high-speed railway line connecting this zone to Ahmedabad.
Sanghavi specified that consultations with stakeholders will take place soon, and senior authorized officers will be appointed to assist investors and expedite project approvals. The policy places great emphasis on sustainability, requiring that at least 51% of the electricity consumed for core data center operations comes from renewable or green sources. Modhwadia also pointed out that developers must meet their water needs using their own desalination plants to avoid overloading local freshwater reserves.
To support such projects, the policy provides assistance of up to 20% of acceptable capital expenditure or 2 crore rupees per million liters per day of desalination capacity, within set limits. The policy aims to achieve a data center capacity of 7.5 GW in Gujarat by offering a range of fiscal benefits. These include a 2.5% capital subsidy for relevant projects in the Dholera region, an interest subsidy of up to 4% for 10 years, and an electricity tariff subsidy of 1 rupee per unit for 20 years.
According to the policy document, eligible investors will receive 100% exemption from stamp duty and registration fees, reimbursement of electricity charges for 20 years, and reimbursement of applicable SGST on investments and operations. Provisions also include granting additional Floor Space Index (FSI), easing building codes, permission for rooftop use for utilities, dual power supply, open access to power procurement, round-the-clock water supply, single-window clearances, and the possibility of land subleasing without additional charges in the initial phase. The policy applies only to projects with a minimum approved IT load of 150 MW. The total financial assistance is capped at 75% of acceptable fixed capital investments and will be disbursed over 20 years. Moreover, data center operations will be treated as a 'core service' under the Gujarat Services Act, guaranteeing operational continuity.
