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SEZs can up data centre growth via stable power, streamlined nods
Special economic zones (SEZs) for data centres could accelerate growth assuring reliable power and streamlined approvals, industry executives and experts said.
Experts said that while dedicated zones could help, power supply and streamlined approvals matter more than tax incentives. The SEZ push builds on early moves by private operators before the latest fiscal incentives.
Last May, Indore-based data centre firm RackBank Datacenters announced a Rs 1,000 crore worth investment in Nava Raipur, Chhattisgarh, to build an AI data centre infrastructure within the country's first artificial intelligence-focused special economic zone designated by the Chhattisgarh government backed by state-level tax exemption and other legal relaxations.
This momentum received a fresh boost from the Union Budget this month, which announced a 20-year tax holiday until 2047 for data centres managing foreign data from India.
NITI Aayog's Frontier Tech Hub, a platform that anticipates tech shifts, released a report last week titled 'Technology Services – Reimagination Ahead'. The report said, "Establishing special data centre economic zones could accelerate growth by ensuring reliable access to affordable, high-quality power, including renewable and nuclear sources, and deploying advanced cooling solutions such as underwater or floating facilities seen in other countries."
"SEZs already improve project viability by allowing duty-free import for authorised operations, smoother GST treatment, and a structure that supports billing foreign customers in foreign currency when services are delivered globally," said Sunil Gupta, chief executive of Yotta Data Services. The firm is operating a large data centre campus in Navi Mumbai from an SEZ for the past six years.
The budget adds long-term tax clarity for foreign cloud operators serving global customers from India, including safe-harbour provisions, he said.
However, industry executives argue that tax incentives alone won't solve the sector's fundamental challenges. Sharad Agarwal, chief executive of Sify Data Center (Sify Technologies), said infrastructure and time matter more. “India produces 20% of the world's data but hosts only 3% of global data centre infrastructure,” he said. The country should have 10-gigawatt capacity, not 1.5 gigawatt, to match its data generation footprint.
The urgency starts from fierce global competition for data centre investments. In the United States, power availability sometimes has a 5-7-year lead time, said Agarwal. Data centre companies there are building gas-based power plants on site, electricity generation that costs one-and-a-half to two times more than utility power. "Just to get projects running faster, they are spending more," he said.
Any special economic zone should focus on infrastructure rather than tax breaks, said an executive on the condition of anonymity. "There is nothing called single-window clearance in the country right now. Even in an SEZ, you still need environmental clearances, explosive license for storing batteries, and airport authority approvals for vertical construction," the person said.
The executive said that without proper infrastructure planning, developers might focus on land banking to profit from real estate appreciation later.
India holds advantages over countries like Malaysia and Singapore, including lower per-megawatt costs, manufacturing facilities for data centre equipment, and engineering talent, said Agarwal.
The shift towards AI workloads intensifies these infrastructure demands. India is entering a phase where digital infrastructure is moving from being a domestic necessity to becoming a global export opportunity, especially for AI and cloud workloads, said Gupta. "The real bottlenecks continue to be execution-related, securing large and reliable power, availability of suitable land with grid connectivity, and the pace of approvals across multiple agencies," he said.
Srihari Srinivasan, director and lead data centre services at Savills India, said the central government and states must draft a holistic data centre policy beyond tax reforms. "The earlier Data Protection Act paved the way for the sector boom in India to manage local data," he said.
Challenges Ahead
Past research on India's special economic zones suggests execution risks could dampen the impact of data centre SEZs if structural issues persist. A study on SEZ performance published through the independent think tank, Centre for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), found that many zones struggled due to land acquisition delays, regulatory complexity and slow development of basic infrastructure, despite strong incentives.
An industry executive who requested anonymity quoted above further said location is critical. "Even if power exists in India, a zone without transmission lines means years of delay just to connect electricity, which cancels out any speed advantage."
Outcomes varied widely by location, with success closely tied to local infrastructure readiness and speed of approvals.
“Delays in land acquisition, infrastructure and approvals can deter large, long-term investments. Grid connectivity and low-latency telecom access are critical,” said Arun Prabhu, partner at law firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas.
Maximum complexity arises around land, permits, power arrangements and financing, areas where disputes can stall projects, said Prabhu.
Source: EconomicTimes
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