Meta signed an agreement with Reliance Industries to lease its first AI-enabled data center in India. The facility will be built in Jamnagar, Gujarat, with an initial capacity of 168 megawatts and options to scale. The deal extends a partnership that began with Meta's $5.7 billion investment in Jio Platforms in 2020.
Renewable energy and water for the site
Renewable energy will power the Jamnagar facility. Desalinated seawater will handle the cooling. Meta will cover the full cost of the energy and water supporting the site. Separately, Meta contracted nearly 1 GW of new clean energy in India — 837 MW from CleanMax in Rajasthan and Karnataka, and 88 MW from Fourth Partner Energy spread across four states. Mark Zuckerberg said the facility will help scale AI infrastructure globally and deepen investment in India's economy.
Data center energy demand draws scrutiny
The Institute for Energy Research published a study in March 2026 that found no statistically significant correlation between the number of data centers in a state and its current electricity prices. Still, political pressure is mounting. Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon signed an executive order requiring data center developers to cover grid costs their projects create. Senator Elizabeth Warren warned that households will absorb the cost of surging power demand from AI data centers. Entergy CEO Drew Marsh rejected those concerns, saying data centers want to be good neighbors and protect their reputations.
Reliance builds a massive campus
Reliance is constructing a large data center campus in Jamnagar, backed by the energy capacity that advanced AI systems demand. The site sits in a region with access to both solar and wind resources, plus seawater for cooling. The deal strengthens a relationship that started with Meta's 2020 investment in Jio Platforms. For Reliance, the campus represents a bet that hyperscale AI workloads will drive demand for years. For Meta, it's a foothold in a market where energy and water constraints are becoming central to data center planning.
Warren's concern and Gordon's executive order reflect a growing debate: who pays for the grid upgrades that AI data centers require? Entergy's Marsh says the industry will act responsibly. Gordon's order suggests states aren't waiting to find out.
