What Does the NVIDIA-Reliance Relationship Mean for India?
A recent fireside chat between Reliance chief Mukesh Ambani and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang during the NVIDIA AI Summit held in Mumbai created a lot of buzz in the Indian tech ecosystem. Mohandas Pai, chairman of Aarin Capital and former Infosys executive, believes that Reliance’s entry into India’s cloud industry is set to drive competition, lower costs, and boost data localisation. During an interaction with AIM, Pai revealed that India currently has around 950 megawatts of cloud capacity, which is expected to grow to approximately 3,000 to 4,000 megawatts over the next three to five years. Achieving this expansion would require an investment of ₹50,000-₹60,000 crore. With initiatives such as free data for Jio subscribers, Reliance is strengthening its position while promoting data retention within India, which is a strategic move for data security. Its capacity for large-scale data storage could push competitors like Microsoft to also host data domestically. Talent Workforce At the summit, Huang called NVIDIA ‘AI in India‘, while Ambani underscored how ‘Vidya’ means knowledge in Sanskrit. The two leaders stressed NVIDIA’s active collaboration in the Indian market. “India will be one of the biggest intelligence markets and it is not only our aspirations but also the raw gene pool and the raw gene power that exists in India,” Ambani said. He believes that India’s youth power will drive advancements in intelligence and that, once achieved, intelligent services will extend beyond software to seamlessly integrate with the rest of the world. With Reliance’s plans to build a gigawatt-scale AI-ready data centre in Jamnagar in place, the question of whether there is sufficient talent arises. Pai, however, clarified that this would not be an issue. He mentioned how IT companies are already managing and maintaining data centres globally. He believes that with ample talent available and given the right opportunities, India can excel in this field. “For example, Yotta, with Hirandhani, created a very large centre for billions [of] dollars in Navi Mumbai. I mean, that is a hyperscale. As India’s first hyperscale, this shows there is enough talent, [and it] is not a problem for the country,” he said. Similarly, Nasscom’s Vipul Parekh also believes India houses a large talent pool. “I feel that India already has 20% of the AI engineers in the world. With the numbers exponentially rising, and with more and more sophisticated courses being offered in our institutions, the proportion can only rise,” said Parekh while interacting with AIM. “India used to cater to much of the backend and outsourcing of software earlier. It should be at the front end of solutions, five years down the line,” Parekh added. Interestingly, Pai had an interesting take on the pattern of data centre developments, which is majorly happening in states such as Gujarat and not in Karnataka. He said that the state faces challenges due to bureaucratic hurdles and slow policy implementation, unlike Gujarat or Tamil Nadu, where the government is more efficient. He suggested that the Karnataka government could attract cloud companies by offering cheaper land and reliable power. “The Karnataka government has to go after them. We need a group, we need a policy to attract at least 10-12 big players in the cloud to set up data centres in Bangalore,” Pai added. Affordable Intelligence NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang with Reliance chairman and MD Mukesh Ambani at the NVIDIA Summit. Source: Jio Referring to Jio, Ambani highlighted the affordable data revolution that the company brought to India. “Apart from the US and China, India has the best digital connectivity infrastructure – 4G, 5G and broadband,” he said. “Jio took India from number 158 in the world to number one in eight years. We as a single company didn’t know anything about this domain, but today we are the largest data company in the world,” Ambani added. The reference highlights the ‘intelligence’ vision that Reliance wants to bring to the country. By leveraging India’s vast market to provide affordable data, where the company has been able to deliver around 16 exabytes at a low cost of 15 cents per GB, which is significantly less compared to a global average of $35 per GB. In the process, Jio has driven data adoption and provided benefits to users, delivering annual customer value estimated at $500 to $700 billion. Reliance now aims to re-create this strategy in the emerging intelligence revolution. AI for India At Jamnagar, Reliance is preparing for a large-scale expansion by building infrastructure capable of supporting 1GW of power, with the potential to expand multiple gigawatts at a single location. The facility will use NVIDIA’s latest Blackwell chips, making it one of the first big Indian tech companies to receive the most powerful chip from NVIDIA. At the company’s 47th Annual General Meeting in September, Reliance unveiled several AI products, including Jio Brain, Jio AI-Cloud, and Jio Phone Call AI. The Ambanis also discussed their broader AI infrastructure vision for India, which was also discussed during the NVIDIA summit. Interestingly, the Jio AI products will ultimately be available to Jio users, thereby tapping into their large base of customers. However, how this would affect future pricing for Jio users remains to be seen. NVIDIA and IT Not just Reliance, but a number of other Indian companies announced their collaboration with NVIDIA. IT giants including Infosys, TCS, Tech Mahindra and Wipro have announced their partnership with the chip giant. Their aim is to create new jobs and train developers to equip themselves with AI. “In the last couple of years we’ve been working together to upskill and we’ve now upskilled about 2,00,000 IT professionals into the world of AI,” said Huang, who underscored his vision – ‘start locally, grow globally’. Customers will utilise custom models using NVIDIA NeMo and NIM microservices for their personalised needs. Building Jio’s Ecosystem At the summit, Ambani also explained his plans to establish a development centre in India to train a large number of developers—potentially hundreds of thousands—in the use of core foundry and Omniverse tools. This initiative aims to equip Indian developers with advanced enterprise skills, enabling them to apply AI and intelligence solutions effectively in real-world scenarios across industries. “I can assure you that like like we did in data, in a few years from now we will surprise the world with what India and Indians can achieve in the intelligence market,” he further said. While it cannot be overlooked that Huang’s focus on India is potentially boosting the country’s development, it is also helping NVIDIA grow significantly. As mentioned earlier, catering to a population of 1.4 billion to bring intelligence at scale will require a substantial amount of GPU power—and who better than Huang and NVIDIA to bridge that gap? Ultimately, India, Reliance, and NVIDIA all stand to benefit. Looking at the AI advancements that India is gearing for, Pai believes that the country should have a large-scale fund allocated just for AI. “India needs to create a ₹10,000 crore AI and robotics fund that will invest in startups. We need that because a lot of startups are coming, and they need capital,” he concluded.
“India will be one of the biggest intelligence markets and it is not only our aspirations but also the raw gene pool and the raw gene power that exists in India,” said Reliance chief Mukesh Ambani.
"India will be one of the biggest intelligence markets and it is not only our aspirations but also the raw gene pool and the raw gene power that exists in India," said Reliance chief Mukesh Ambani.
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As a rare blend of engineering, MBA, and journalism degree, Vandana Nair brings a unique combination of technical know-how, business acumen, and storytelling skills to the table. Her insatiable curiosity for all things startups, businesses, and AI technologies ensures that there's always a fresh and insightful perspective to her reporting. She now hosts her tech segment 'Point Break' on AIM Tv.