STT GDC Dholera: ₹8,000-₹10,000 Crore Data Centre Investment Under Evaluation

A significant new development has put Dholera's growing digital infrastructure ambitions in the spotlight. STT GDC India is evaluating an investment of around ₹8,000-₹10,000 crore in Dholera to build sustainable, high-capacity digital infrastructure. The proposal came up during a meeting between Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and STT GDC India CEO Bimal Khandelwal at the Mumbai Roadshow held ahead of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2027.

It is important to note that the project remains at an evaluation stage. A feasibility study is currently underway, and no final investment decision has been confirmed yet.

STT GDC India is exploring the possibility of setting up large-scale digital infrastructure in the region. Data centres house the servers, networking equipment and computing systems that power cloud services, AI applications, digital platforms and enterprise IT operations. Discussions following the meeting were reported to have covered the availability of green power, Gujarat's digital infrastructure policies, and the overall feasibility of a sustainable, high-capacity facility in Dholera.

As things stand in September 2026, STT GDC India is still in the process of evaluating this potential investment, with a feasibility study in progress. No official confirmation has been given on the final investment size, planned capacity, construction timeline or exact site location. Until such details are announced, this should be treated as a proposal under review rather than a finalised project.

STT GDC India is an established data centre operator with a presence spanning 10 cities across the country, serving enterprise, cloud and high-performance computing needs. The company has been actively scaling up its AI-ready infrastructure in recent months — it committed ₹4,200 crore toward a Chennai facility in February 2026, alongside existing operations in cities including Mumbai, Pune, Jaipur, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.

The potential STT GDC investment fits into a broader effort by Gujarat to position itself as a leading digital infrastructure hub. Under the Viksit Gujarat Data Centre Policy 2026-29, the state had initially set a target of about 7.5 GW of data centre capacity — but by September 2026, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel noted that applications amounting to nearly 14 GW had already come in, pointing to strong demand from hyperscale and data centre companies.

Several factors make Dholera an attractive location for this kind of investment: large tracts of land available for big-footprint infrastructure, strong access to renewable and green energy sources, industrial infrastructure already being built out, backing from the state's dedicated data centre policy, a semiconductor and technology ecosystem that is steadily taking shape, and room to accommodate large, high-capacity facilities. Together, these factors could position Dholera as an increasingly attractive site for AI, cloud and hyperscale data centre projects going forward.

Should the STT GDC project move forward, it would add a new dimension to Dholera's economic base. The region is already building out semiconductor manufacturing, renewable energy capacity, industrial infrastructure and major connectivity projects — a large data centre facility would complement these by bringing in further digital and technology-driven activity. Beyond construction-phase jobs, an operational facility would require ongoing talent in IT systems, engineering, security, maintenance and facility management, while also potentially drawing in ancillary businesses and services around the wider tech ecosystem.