Three hyperscale datacenter announcements in Odisha in 2024. Combined capacity: 500MW.
Land cost: ₹40-60 lakh per acre (vs ₹2-4 crore in Mumbai/Bangalore).
Power availability: 2,000 MW surplus generation capacity.
One problem: The power grid wasn't designed for datacenter loads.
Why Odisha suddenly matters for datacenters
Traditional datacenter hubs:
- Mumbai: ₹3-4 crore per acre, power stressed
- Bangalore: ₹2.5-3 crore per acre, water-constrained
- Chennai: ₹2-3 crore per acre, cyclone risk
- Hyderabad: ₹1.5-2.5 crore per acre, competition intense
Odisha value proposition:
- Land: ₹40-60 lakh per acre (90% cheaper)
- Power: 2,000 MW surplus from coal + renewables
- Connectivity: International submarine cable landing at Digha (planned)
- Government: Single-window clearance, 7-year tax holiday
- Labor: Engineering talent from NIT Rourkela, IIIT Bhubaneswar
Cost structure comparison (100MW datacenter):
Mumbai:
- Land (50 acres): ₹150-200 crore
- Power connection: ₹80-100 crore
- Construction: ₹600-700 crore
- Total: ₹830-1,000 crore
Odisha:
- Land (50 acres): ₹20-30 crore
- Power connection: ₹40-60 crore
- Construction: ₹500-600 crore (lower labor costs)
- Total: ₹560-690 crore
Savings: ₹270-310 crore (40% lower capex).
This is why hyperscalers are looking at Odisha.
The power quality problem
Odisha grid profile:
- Installed capacity: 10,000 MW (thermal + hydro + renewables)
- Peak demand: 6,500 MW
- Surplus: 3,500 MW
- Grid frequency: 49.8-50.2 Hz (±0.2 Hz variation)
- Voltage stability: ±5% at transmission level
Datacenter requirements:
- Frequency: 49.95-50.05 Hz (±0.05 Hz maximum)
- Voltage: ±1% at facility input
- Harmonics: < 3% THD
- Availability: 99.995% (Tier III) or 99.999% (Tier IV)
The gap: Grid provides 99.5% availability. Datacenters need 99.999%.
That's 43 hours of downtime per year vs 5 minutes maximum.
Why datacenter power is completely different
Manufacturing load profile:
- Power factor: 0.85-0.90
- Load variation: 60-100% (gradual changes)
- Harmonics: 5-8% THD
- Downtime tolerance: Hours to days
- Backup power: 4-8 hours (diesel)
Datacenter load profile:
- Power factor: 0.95-0.99 (power factor corrected)
- Load variation: 85-100% (sudden spikes)
- Harmonics: 3-5% THD (unless filtered)
- Downtime tolerance: Seconds (for Tier IV)
- Backup power: Weeks (fuel + renewables)
The key difference: Datacenters can't ride through power sags.
Manufacturing equipment slows down, restarts. Datacenters crash servers, lose data, violate SLAs.
The cooling problem
Odisha climate:
- Summer (March-June): 38-45°C
- Monsoon (July-September): 30-35°C, 85-95% humidity
- Winter (November-February): 15-25°C
Datacenter cooling requirements:
- Server inlet temperature: 18-27°C (ASHRAE standard)
- Humidity: 40-60% RH
- Cooling capacity: 1.2-1.5 MW per MW of IT load
- Water consumption: 4-6 liters per kWh (evaporative cooling)
Power breakdown for 100MW datacenter:
- IT load: 100 MW
- Cooling: 120-150 MW
- Other (lighting, controls): 10-15 MW
- Total power requirement: 230-265 MW
Water requirement:
- Daily cooling water: 10-15 million liters
- Annual: 3.5-5.5 billion liters
Odisha has water, but infrastructure to supply this volume doesn't exist in industrial areas.
Infrastructure gaps in Odisha
What exists:
- 400 kV transmission network
- 132 kV/33 kV substations
- Coal-based generation (7,000 MW)
- Renewable capacity (2,500 MW growing)
What's missing for datacenters:
- High-reliability substations: Current substations have 2-3 outages/year
- Redundant transmission paths: Single point of failure in most locations
- Power quality management: No active filtering, voltage regulation
- Fast switching: Manual switchover (30+ seconds)
- Renewable integration: No large-scale battery storage
Timeline to address these:
- Substation upgrades: 18-24 months
- Redundant transmission: 24-36 months
- Power quality systems: 6-12 months
- Battery storage: 12-18 months
If you're planning a datacenter for 2026 commissioning: The grid infrastructure won't be ready.
On-site power generation strategy
Why hyperscalers are going hybrid:
Grid + Solar + Battery + Diesel:
- Grid: Base load (60-70% of power)
- Solar: Daytime generation (20-30%)
- Battery: Power quality + peak shaving (2-4 hours storage)
- Diesel: Emergency backup (7-14 days fuel)
Typical 100MW datacenter power design:
- Grid connection: 150 MW contracted capacity
- On-site solar: 150 MW capacity (generates 30-40 MW average)
- Battery storage: 400 MWh (4 hours at full load)
- Diesel gensets: 120 MW (N+1 redundancy)
Capital cost:
- Grid connection + substation: ₹60-80 crore
- Solar plant: ₹400-450 crore
- Battery storage: ₹200-250 crore
- Diesel gensets + fuel storage: ₹150-180 crore
- Total power infrastructure: ₹810-960 crore
For a 100MW datacenter with ₹600 crore building cost, power infrastructure is 135-160% of facility cost.
The renewable energy mandate
New datacenter policies (multiple states including Odisha):
- Minimum 50% renewable energy by 2027
- 70% renewable energy by 2030
- Carbon neutrality by 2035
- Real-time renewable tracking (RECs not acceptable)
This forces on-site solar + battery:
Traditional approach (buy RECs):
- Buy grid power: ₹5-6/kWh
- Buy RECs: ₹1-2/kWh
- Total: ₹6-8/kWh
- But RECs don't count toward new mandates
On-site renewable approach:
- Solar + battery capital: ₹650-700 crore (100MW)
- Levelized cost: ₹4-5/kWh
- Meets renewable mandate
- Grid as backup only
Carbon credit value:
- Datacenter emissions avoided: 50,000-60,000 tons CO₂/year
- Carbon credit price: $20-40 per ton (₹1,600-3,200)
- Annual credit value: ₹8-18 crore
- NPV over 25 years: ₹80-150 crore
On-site renewable isn't optional anymore. It's financially required.
Latency and connectivity
Why Odisha vs traditional hubs:
Mumbai:
- Latency to Singapore: 60-70ms
- To Middle East: 80-100ms
- To Europe: 120-150ms
- Submarine cable landing: Yes (multiple)
Odisha (Digha cable landing, planned):
- Latency to Singapore: 40-50ms (shorter route)
- To Middle East: 90-110ms
- To Europe: 130-160ms
- Submarine cable: 1 landing planned (2026)
For AI training / HPC workloads: Latency matters less (batch processing).
For transactional workloads: Extra 10-20ms kills the business case.
Odisha sweet spot:
- AI/ML training (Meta, Google-scale training clusters)
- Scientific computing (climate, molecular dynamics)
- Video rendering (Bollywood, OTT post-production)
- Disaster recovery / cold storage (latency-insensitive)
NOT suitable for:
- Financial trading (latency critical)
- Gaming servers (real-time)
- CDN edge nodes (need Mumbai/Bangalore proximity)
Government incentives (Odisha specific)
Data Center Policy 2024:
- Capital subsidy: 20% of fixed capital investment (max ₹50 crore)
- Stamp duty exemption: 100% for land purchase
- Power tariff subsidy: ₹1/kWh for first 5 years
- Employment incentive: ₹50,000 per job created (min 500 jobs)
- Single-window clearance: 60-day approval timeline
- Land allocation: Dedicated datacenter parks in Khurda, Cuttack
Tax benefits:
- 7-year income tax holiday (Section 80-IAC)
- No electricity duty for 10 years
- 100% FDI allowed (automatic route)
Effective power cost with subsidies:
- Grid tariff: ₹5.50/kWh
- Less subsidy: ₹1.00/kWh
- Net cost: ₹4.50/kWh (for first 5 years)
After subsidies expire:
- Solar + battery LCOE: ₹4.00-5.00/kWh
- Grid power: ₹6.50-7.50/kWh
The smart play: Build solar from day one, pocket the grid subsidy as bonus.
Talent availability
Engineering graduates in Odisha:
- NIT Rourkela: 1,200/year (CS/EE/ME)
- IIIT Bhubaneswar: 600/year (CS/IT)
- Other engineering colleges: 8,000+/year
Current datacenter hiring:
- Mumbai/Bangalore: ₹12-18 lakh for entry-level datacenter technician
- Odisha: ₹6-10 lakh for same role
Labor cost savings: 40-50% vs traditional hubs.
The talent migration pattern:
- 2015-2020: Odisha engineers leave for Bangalore/Hyderabad
- 2020-2025: WFH + hyperscaler announcements reverse migration
- 2025-2030: Local datacenter ecosystem emerges
Real estate play
Land prices in datacenter zones:
2022 (pre-announcement):
- Khurda industrial area: ₹15-25 lakh per acre
- Cuttack outskirts: ₹10-20 lakh per acre
2024 (post-announcement):
- Khurda datacenter zone: ₹50-70 lakh per acre
- Cuttack datacenter zone: ₹40-60 lakh per acre
2026 projection:
- After first hyperscale facility goes live: ₹100-150 lakh per acre
Still cheaper than anywhere else in India.
But if you're planning 2027-2028 facility, lock land now. Prices are rising 30-50% per year.
What we're building in Odisha
50MW hyperscale-ready power infrastructure:
- Grid connection: 75 MW
- On-site solar: 125 MW
- Battery storage: 200 MWh
- Diesel backup: 60 MW (N+1)
Designed for:
- AI training clusters (H100/MI300 class)
- 99.999% availability (Tier IV equivalent)
- 80% renewable energy (meets future mandates)
- Modular expansion to 200 MW
Capital cost: ₹600-700 crore Off-balance-sheet via PPA: ₹0 upfront for datacenter operator
You build the datacenter. We build and operate the power infrastructure.
Your power cost:
- Fixed PPA: ₹4.50/kWh for 25 years
- 80% renewable (meets mandates)
- 99.999% availability (contractual guarantee)
- Demand charges: ₹0 (battery eliminates spikes)
Timeline for Odisha datacenter projects
2024 (announcements):
- Yotta (Hiranandani): 50MW facility, Khurda
- CtrlS: 40MW facility, Bhubaneswar
- AdaniConneX: 60MW facility, Cuttack
2025-2026 (construction):
- Land acquisition + site prep: Q1-Q2 2025
- Power infrastructure: Q2-Q4 2025
- Facility construction: Q3 2025 - Q2 2026
- Commissioning: Q3 2026
2027-2030 (expansion):
- Phase 2 capacity additions
- Submarine cable landing operational (2026)
- Datacenter ecosystem emerges (networking, support services)
If you're planning a facility: Start now for 2027 operations.
The bottom line
Odisha offers 40-50% capital cost savings vs Mumbai/Bangalore for hyperscale datacenters.
But the power infrastructure isn't ready:
- Grid reliability: 99.5% vs 99.999% required
- Power quality: ±5% voltage vs ±1% required
- Renewable integration: Minimal vs 50-80% mandated
Your options:
- Wait for grid upgrades (2-3 years)
- Build on-site power from day one
- Partner with power infrastructure provider (us)
We're building 50-200MW hyperscale power infrastructure in Odisha.
- Solar + battery + diesel + grid integration
- 99.999% availability guarantee
- ₹4.50/kWh locked for 25 years
- Off-balance-sheet financing
You build the datacenter facility. We build and operate the power plant.
Odisha is the next hyperscale hub. The power infrastructure is being built now.