Tata Communications to invest $400-450 million for India’s AI fibre network

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The first phase of the programme will focus on the Mumbai-Pune-Hyderabad-Chennai corridor, one of India's most important Al and hyperscale growth routes

By Vallari Sanzgiri

Updated - October 26, 2026 at 06:48 PM. | Mumbai

Tata Communications will invest close to $450 million to build a high-speed, low-latency AI network fabric connecting India’s key AI data-centre corridors.

The company will build around 10,000 kilometers of the new long-haul fiber across India, creating one of the country’s largest AI-ready connectivity network. Dubbed as the AI super highway the network will cater to next-generation AI workloads.

“The execution of the fiber network will span a 3- to 5-year rollout horizon. Initial deployment during Phase 1 prioritises the high-density Mumbai–Pune–Hyderabad–Chennai route, establishing direct links between key data center clusters and subsea landing hubs. Phase 2 will subsequently broaden regional coverage across Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam (Vizag), and Chennai. Later phases will stretch network reach further east toward Bhubaneswar and west into Gujarat, connecting strategic nodes such as GIFT City and Jamnagar,” Rupesh Chokshi, Chief Product and Technology Officer, Executive Vice President & Global Business Head – Network Services, Tata Communications told businessline.

While traditional telecom networks struggle to manage infrastructure standards for generative and agentic AI workloads, Chokshi stated that this new network is custom-engineered for specialised AI. It will provide direct DC-to-DC (data center-to-data center) fabrics, custom SLAs, ultra-low latency, diverse routing, and a massive capacity of 7.2 petabytes across the length of the AI super highway. The network will also be integrated into Tata Communications’ existing infrastructure, spanning over 500,000 km of subsea fiber and over 200,000 km of terrestrial fiber—connecting India’s AI corridors directly to global AI hubs.

“Owning the dedicated fiber also provides strong owner economics and 25-year asset longevity. Furthermore, rather than remaining a captive asset, it is built as a commercial-grade, multi-tenant network to be leased through long-term contracts to hyperscalers, neo-cloud providers, AI labs, and enterprises,” said Chokshi, adding that the entire investment is funded directly by Tata Communications through operating cash flows.

Commenting on the investment Ganesh Lakshminarayanan, MD and CEO, Tata Communications, said, “We are excited about the opportunity in the India data centre-to-data centre connectivity, which we believe could evolve into a market exceeding $1 billion over the medium term. With our planned investments, we are building on our existing strengths to create one of the most comprehensive data centre connectivity platforms in the market, positioning us to capture this significant growth opportunity. As we scale, a growing proportion of our expansion is being driven by anchor customer commitments and contracted demand, providing a strong foundation for sustainable growth, efficient capital deployment and long-term value creation.”

By investing in India’s data centre industry, Tata Communications aspires for significant growth driven by accelerating cloud adoption, AI deployment, increasing data localisation requirements, and growing enterprise demand for resilient, high-capacity digital infrastructure.

The investment aims to strengthen India’s emergence as a global AI and cloud connectivity gateway, intending to meet the unprecedented demand from hyperscale and neocloud providers, AI workloads, digital-native businesses, Global Capability Centres (GCCs), enterprises and emerging cloud platforms. It will enable global hyperscalers, digital platforms and multinational enterprises to scale their operations in India.

Tata Communications will also continue to support existing enterprise and data centre connectivity requirements by scaling its current National Long Distance and metro network footprint, ensuring continued support for current growth while building capacity for future demand.

Published on October 26, 2026

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