Mukesh Ambani's seven-year investment plan targets multi-gigawatt AI-ready capacity. The commitment shifts capital from energy to digital, with direct readthroughs to NLC India and construction peers.
Reliance Industries Limited has committed ₹10 lakh crore to multi-gigawatt-scale AI-ready data centres over the next seven years. Chairman Mukesh Ambani called the investment patient, nation-building capital designed for durable economic value, not speculative valuation. The pledge, disclosed in RIL's Integrated Annual Report 2025-26 and first telegraphed at the AI Impact Summit in February, reframes Reliance's capital allocation from energy toward digital infrastructure at a scale that dwarfs any single corporate data centre programme in India.
"This is not a speculative investment. It is not for chasing valuation. This is a patient, disciplined, nation-building capital designed to create durable economic value and strategic resilience for decades to come." – Mukesh Ambani
The FY25-26 capex came in at ₹1,44,271 crore (US$15.2 billion). Spreading ₹10 lakh crore over seven years implies average annual outlay of about ₹1.43 lakh crore – roughly in line with current spending but heavily redirected toward AI. That shift changes the sector calculus for energy, construction, telecom, and green technology peers.
The direct beneficiary group is Indian data centre developers and their supply chains. Reliance's multi-gigawatt requirement means demand for high-density server racks, advanced liquid cooling, and firm, low-cost power. Construction firms, electrical equipment makers, and transmission companies will face a multi-year order pipeline. NLC India already signed a pact with RIL to explore underground lignite gasification in Gujarat – a clear signal that RIL is securing energy feedstock for the data centre complex.
The Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex at Jamnagar is taking shape alongside the AI data centre plan. The complex will likely supply renewable power and hydrogen derivatives to the data centres. This creates a read-through to green hydrogen, solar, and battery storage companies. If Jamnagar executes on schedule, RIL's AI infrastructure will have a cost advantage over peers relying on grid power alone.
Reliance Jio is listed as a co-investor in the annual report statement. Jio will host and commercialise the AI workloads – offering GPU-as-a-service, cloud inference, and enterprise AI. This positions Jio against Bharti Airtel and Tata Communications, both of whom are building their own cloud and AI stacks. The competitive response will be a secondary catalyst for the telecommunications sector.
The ₹10 lakh crore figure is not a surprise in direction – Ambani had flagged AI infrastructure in February. What changed is the formalisation of the seven-year timeline and the explicit link to Jio. The capital market read-through is that RIL is shifting from being an energy-first conglomerate to a digital-first one. The mechanism: depreciation of old energy assets funds new digital capex, with the Jamnagar green complex acting as the bridge.
For traders, confirmation comes from observable execution metrics:
The read-through is most direct for NLC India – the only company explicitly named in the source as a partner. NLC India stands to benefit from a long-term gasification contract, which could improve its earnings visibility and reduce its exposure to volatile coal markets.
For the broader Indian data centre ecosystem, stocks such as Sterlite Technologies (fibre), Power Grid Corporation (transmission), and construction firms like Larsen & Toubro may see order-flow upside – though these are inference, not confirmed by the source. In telecom, Jio's AI push pressures Bharti Airtel to match capex intensity or seek partnerships with global hyperscalers.
RIL's next quarterly investor presentation will break out data centre versus energy capex. Watch for the share of digital infrastructure to rise above 30% of total.
The first phase of the Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex is expected within two years. Any delay pushes out the cost advantage for the AI data centres.
If Jio announces a tie-up with Microsoft, Google, or AWS to host their AI inferencing workloads in India, it validates the thesis and could trigger a re-rating of RIL's digital segment.
If India grants infrastructure status to data centres – allowing lower-cost debt and tax benefits – the entire sector receives a tailwind. RIL's scale would make it the primary beneficiary.
RIL's ₹10 lakh crore AI commitment is the largest single corporate infrastructure pledge in India. It reshapes the data centre sector's growth trajectory and creates supply-chain opportunities. The most concrete near-term beneficiary is NLC India, the only named partner. For traders, execution metrics matter more than sentiment. Track quarterly capex, Jamnagar milestones, and Jio's AI revenue – these will determine whether the sector read-through delivers alpha or sinks under the weight of delayed spending.
Practical rule: When a conglomerate with RIL's balance sheet commits seven years of capex in one direction, the right trade is often to buy the confirmed supplier (NLC India) rather than the conglomerate itself. The supplier's revenue visibility improves immediately; the conglomerate's returns depend on far-away utilisation rates.
For broader stock market analysis and portfolio positioning, see our coverage of Indian infrastructure and digitalisation themes.
Prepared with AlphaScala research tooling and grounded in primary market data: live prices, fundamentals, SEC filings, hedge-fund holdings, and insider activity. Each story is checked against AlphaScala publishing rules before release. Educational coverage, not personalized advice.