Odisha is not the first place that comes to mind when people talk about India's AI ambitions. That may be about to change, and the number attached to the change is hard to ignore.
HCLTech has announced a planned capital outlay of Rs 14,257 crore, roughly $1.4 billion, to build its first AI-optimised data centre at the upcoming Odisha Sovereign AI Park in Bhubaneswar. The project brings together HCLTech, Bengaluru-based AI startup Sarvam, and the Odisha government, with the state chipping in financial assistance whose exact size has not been disclosed. A memorandum of understanding was signed in the presence of Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and HCLTech Chairperson Roshni Nadar Malhotra, who framed the project as part of the company's push to become a key player in India's sovereign AI ecosystem.
The facility will pair HCLTech's full-stack AI capabilities with Sarvam's foundation models to build sector-specific applications for both government and private enterprise, with a particular focus on multilingual AI services that can reach far beyond India's metro cities. Alongside the data centre, HCLTech also plans a global delivery centre in Odisha expected to create around 5,000 jobs, a separate Rs 730 crore project already cleared by the state's single window authority.
This is not a standalone bet either. It follows HCLTech's announcement earlier this month of its formal entry into the full-stack AI market, backed by plans to invest up to Rs 3,500 crore in AI data centres with a combined capacity of 50 megawatts. The company had already put down $150 million for a 10.5% stake in Sarvam, so this latest move reads less like a new direction and more like the next chapter of a partnership already in motion.
Taken together, officials estimate the total investment across HCLTech, Sarvam, and the Odisha government at close to Rs 15,000 crore, with operations targeted to begin by 2028, a long runway for a state betting on becoming India's next compute hub.
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