Meta, the powerhouse behind Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is setting its sights on Chennai for its inaugural Indian data centre, housed within the Reliance Industries campus.

What Happened: According to an ET report, this strategic move, which culminated during recent discussions at an Ambani family pre-wedding function, promises to localize the processing of vast amounts of user data in Meta’s largest market.

With plans to spread its network across the nation through multiple nodes, Meta aims to turbocharge its data processing capabilities. Currently reliant on its Singapore data centre for handling Indian user data, this shift to local operations is set to improve user experiences with faster content delivery and localized ads, all while slashing data transmission costs.

The chosen site, a sprawling 10-acre estate in Chennai’s Ambattur Industrial Estate, is a joint venture involving giants like Brookfield Asset Management and Digital Realty, boasting the capacity to support a hefty 100-megawatt IT load.

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Why it matters: This development comes amid increasing government scrutiny over AI technologies, with Meta looking to base its significant Llama series of AI models in India, a crucial move given the models’ widespread use by Indian enterprises.

With India’s user base significantly outnumbering that in the U.S., and advertising revenue on the rise, Meta’s decision to localize data processing underscores its commitment to enhancing service quality while eyeing further market penetration in a country with nearly 850 million smartphone users.

The development also comes just a week after media reports revealed that Google was negotiating to purchase a 22.5-acre plot of land in Navi Mumbai to establish its first captive data centre in the country.

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