Data center rules in India

Owns the national data centre policy, which is still an unreleased draft. Under the Finance Act 2026 it notifies which Indian-run data centres qualify for the foreign cloud tax holiday to 2047. It also runs the DPDP data protection rules.

Sets national power rules, including the 2022 green energy open access rules for users of 100 kW or more. In July 2026 it began a countrywide exercise with the CEA, utilities and developers to map data centre power demand and plan the grid. Internal estimates put demand at 26 GW by 2032.

Sets technical standards for the grid. In July 2026 it issued draft grid connection standards. They would cover bulk consumers connected at 33 kV and above, which includes large data centres.

The ministry told Parliament on 6 August 2026 that AI data centres do not need environmental clearance as such. Large sites still need it as building projects, which a state authority grants. The Andhra Pradesh SEIAA cleared the Google-Adani Vizag site on 5 June 2026 on its built-up area, and that clearance is now challenged in the High Court.

Sets the terms in India's largest data centre market. In June 2026 it widened its Green Integrated Data Centre Parks policy from 3 parks to 20 statewide and cut the green power share for core operations from 100% to 51%. An energy department order of 6 October 2025 lets parks build their own green supply.

Sets tariffs and grants distribution licences in Maharashtra. A data centre park that wants to distribute its own green power inside a designated zone needs a parallel distribution licence from MERC.

The state distribution company. It already supplies the Mumbai suburbs of Mulund and Bhandup. In June 2025 it asked MERC for a parallel licence across much of Mumbai and cited the data centre boom as a driver of demand.

The state cabinet approved the Data Centre Policy 2026 on 7 July 2026, with a 2 GW target. A nodal agency under the IT department takes applications through the Nivesh Mitra single window. Projects over Rs 200 crore need cabinet approval on an empowered committee's recommendation.

Sets the industrial HV-2 tariff that data centres in the state pay, and grants distribution licences. In August 2026 it admitted an Adani Energy Solutions petition for a parallel distribution licence at a Noida Sector 62 data centre park.

The state discoms under UPPCL supply most sites. NIDP Developers holds its own distribution licence inside a Greater Noida data centre park. The state transmission company began applying the 50% transmission charge waiver for data centre parks from April 2025.

Its Data Centre Policy 2021 ended on 31 March 2026, and no successor was found. At an investment event on 13 August 2026, data centres took Rs 26,417 crore of the commitments. They included a Rs 10,000 crore hyperscale site by Lighthouse Green Data Centre at Thoothukudi.

A body chaired by the Chief Secretary to fast-track projects of Rs 200 crore or more or with at least 5,000 jobs. An amendment to the Tamil Nadu Business Facilitation Act was notified in September 2026 and sets time limits for approvals. Press reports give the body two different names.

Approves large data centres one by one through government orders under Data Center Policy 4.0. Each order sets its own land, power and tax concessions. In August 2026 it cleared four projects worth Rs 2.83 lakh crore.

The cabinet approved the Sustainable Data Centre Policy 2026 to 2031 in September 2026, aiming for 1 GW of IT load. Karnataka Udyoga Mitra is the single window for clearances. Karnataka Innovation and Technology Services registers projects for incentives.

Its 2016 Data Centres Policy lets data centres buy renewable power through open access for up to one third of their needs. The state electricity regulator sets the charges they pay the discoms. No newer Telangana data centre policy was confirmed.

Allots industrial land in Maharashtra and runs data centre parks on it. In 2019 it set aside 100 hectares at Taloja and 500 hectares at Khalapur for data centre parks.

India has no notified national data centre policy. MeitY (the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) revived its unreleased 2020 draft in 2025, and the revised draft proposes a tax holiday of up to 20 years, a single-window clearance to replace more than 30 permissions, and four data centre economic zones. We found no final notified version as of October 2026.

Data centres with at least 5 MW of IT load are listed as infrastructure on the national harmonised master list. Listed sectors can access infrastructure lending on easier terms.

The Uttar Pradesh cabinet approved a new data centre policy on 7 July 2026. It targets 2 GW of new capacity and Rs 2 lakh crore of investment, with extra support for GPU and Tier III or Tier IV facilities. Land subsidy is 50% in Bundelkhand and Purvanchal and 25% elsewhere, although all seven projects under the 2021 policy sit in Noida or Greater Noida.

Karnataka's cabinet approved a five-year data centre policy in September 2026 with a budget of Rs 1,300.45 crore and a goal of 1 GW of IT load by 2031. Karnataka Udyoga Mitra is the single-window clearance agency for approvals. Three parks are planned at Hoskote, Mangaluru and Mysuru.

Gujarat launched its first dedicated data centre policy in July 2026, valid to 2029, with a 7.5 GW capacity goal. Projects need at least 150 MW of approved IT load to qualify. Facilities must source at least 51% of their electricity from renewable sources.

Maharashtra expanded its Green Integrated Data Centre Parks policy in June 2026 from 3 parks in the Mumbai region to 20 parks across the state. The share of green power required for core operations fell from 100% to 51%.

Andhra Pradesh approves large data centres one by one through government orders under its Data Center Policy 4.0 for 2024 to 2029. In August 2026 it cleared four projects worth Rs 2.83 lakh crore, each with its own mix of land, power and tax concessions.

Tamil Nadu's Data Centre Policy 2021 applied from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2026. We found no successor policy, so the terms for new projects are unclear.

MIDC set aside 100 hectares at Taloja in Navi Mumbai and 500 hectares at Khalapur in Raigad for data centre parks in September 2019. MIDC said it would manage the parks and prepare a policy to convert land for data centre use.

An amendment to the Tamil Nadu Business Facilitation Act, notified in September 2026, sets up the Tamil Nadu Investment Promotion Authority under the Chief Secretary. It monitors projects of Rs 200 crore or more or with at least 5,000 jobs, so most large data centres qualify. Departments must give approvals within set time limits. Press reports cite 21 days, but the notified text was not seen.

Uttar Pradesh moved data centres into the HV-2 large and heavy power tariff, the industrial class, after a state notification of 4 October 2024. Before that they paid the commercial rate. No other state has a tariff written for data centres that we could confirm.

NIDP Developers runs its own power distribution licence inside a Greater Noida data centre park. For the 2026 to 2027 year its HV-2 rate is Rs 270 per kVA per month of contract demand plus Rs 6.95 per kVAh of energy. A kVAh is a billing unit close to a kWh.

State utility customers in the urban HV-2 class pay a demand charge of Rs 270 to 300 per kVA per month. Energy costs Rs 7.10 per kVAh at up to 11 kV, falling to Rs 6.10 above 132 kV. Time of day rates add or cut 15% in peak and off-peak hours.

Consumers with 100 kW or more can buy renewable power directly from generators through open access, meaning use of the grid to buy from someone other than the local utility. Applications must be decided within 15 days or are deemed approved. Utilities must bank surplus green power, and cross-subsidy surcharges are capped.

Under the Uttar Pradesh Data Centre Policy 2021, data centre parks get a 50% waiver on intra-state wheeling and transmission charges for 25 years. The state transmission company began applying the waiver to bills from April 2025.

A Maharashtra energy department order of 6 October 2025 lets data centre parks build captive solar, wind and hydro supply and distribute it within designated zones. Operators need a parallel distribution licence from MERC, the state electricity regulator.

Tamil Nadu's 2021 policy offered a dual grid connection, meaning two independent feeders, to data centres with 50 MW or more of sanctioned load. It also offered reduced cross-subsidy surcharges on wind and solar power.

Telangana's Data Centres Policy of 2016 lets data centres buy renewable power through open access for up to one third of their needs. They must pay the utility charges set by the state regulator.

MERC's multi-year tariff order for MSEDCL of 28 March 2025 put data centres in the industrial category from 1 April 2025. Data centres that buy 100% green power through open access or a green tariff get a 10% discount on wheeling charges. The tariff levels were later revised. MERC's final review order of 25 March 2026 applies revised rates from 1 July 2025. We did not confirm that the review kept the data centre terms unchanged.

Foreign cloud companies pay no Indian tax on income from services sold outside India through data centres in India, up to the 2046 to 2047 tax year. The data centre must be run by an Indian company and notified by MeitY, and Indian customers must buy through an Indian reseller. Indian data centres serving a related foreign company can use a fixed 15% margin on costs for tax.

Gujarat pays a power tariff subsidy of Rs 1 per unit for 20 years and reimburses electricity duty for 20 years. Stamp duty and registration fees are fully waived. Total support is capped at 75% of eligible fixed capital investment.

Maharashtra parks get a power tariff concession of Rs 1 per unit for 10 years at Rs 30,000 crore of investment, or 20 years at Rs 60,000 crore or more. The larger projects can also get an industrial incentive of up to 75% and a 4% interest subsidy on term loans, capped at Rs 25 crore a year for 10 years.

Under the 2021 policy, data centre units get a capital subsidy of 7% of eligible fixed capital, capped at Rs 20 crore. They also get a full stamp duty waiver on the first land deal and a 10-year electricity duty exemption. The detailed figures in the 2026 policy were not public in sources we found.

Andhra Pradesh gave Google a 25% land price discount, a stamp duty waiver and an electricity duty exemption for its Visakhapatnam site. The package also includes Rs 1 off the industrial power tariff and State GST refunds during construction capped at Rs 2,245 crore.

The IndiaAI Mission has onboarded 38,000 GPUs from private providers and is adding 20,000 more. Users pay a subsidised rate of Rs 65 per GPU hour. The mission has a five-year budget of Rs 10,371.92 crore approved in March 2024.

The production linked incentive scheme for IT hardware pays makers of laptops, PCs and servers in India. It has an outlay of Rs 17,000 crore over six years.

The Digital Personal Data Protection Rules were notified in November 2025 with an 18-month phase-in. Consent manager rules start on 13 November 2026. Most duties on data fiduciaries, meaning firms that decide how personal data is used, start on 13 May 2027.

Personal data may leave India unless the government restricts a named country. No restricted list has been notified. The transfer rules start on 13 May 2027, and significant data fiduciaries may face local storage duties for some data types.

Since a 2018 RBI directive, all payment system data must be stored only in India. Data processed abroad must be deleted there and returned to India within one business day or 24 hours.

SEBI's 2023 cloud framework requires regulated securities firms to store and process data in the cloud within India. It applies to brokers, exchanges and other market entities.

CERT-In, the national cyber security agency, requires covered entities to keep logs of all ICT systems for 180 days within India. Data centre, cloud and virtual server providers must keep customer records for five years. Cyber incidents must be reported within six hours.

India has no water rule written for data centres. Data centre buildings over 20,000 square metres need prior environmental clearance, which reviews freshwater supply, water balance and reuse. Groundwater use falls under Ministry of Jal Shakti extraction guidelines.

Karnataka reimburses 100% of treated water charges up to Rs 8 lakh a year for five years. Units with water usage effectiveness of 0.7 to 1.3 litres per kWh can get up to Rs 30 lakh a year for two years. The planned Hoskote park has access to 60 million litres a day of treated wastewater.

Gujarat offers up to Rs 2 crore per million litres a day of captive desalination capacity built for data centres.

Bureau of Energy Efficiency district cooling guidelines from 2023 encourage treated wastewater in place of freshwater for cooling towers. The guidelines are voluntary.

Consent manager rules under the DPDP Rules start on 13 November 2026. Consent managers are registered platforms that let people give and withdraw consent across services.

Most DPDP duties and the cross-border transfer rules start on 13 May 2027. Any restricted country list would be notified by the central government.

In January 2026 MeitY proposed cutting the compliance period for significant data fiduciaries from 18 months to 12 months. It also proposed starting cross-border restrictions at once. As of September 2026 no amendment had been notified.

MeitY expected to finalise the national data centre policy in late 2025. It has not been released. The draft includes tax holidays, single-window clearance and data centre economic zones.

UPERC admitted a petition in August 2026 from an Adani Energy Solutions unit for a parallel distribution licence at a Noida Sector 62 data centre park. The applicant must publish notices and take objections for 30 days before a decision.

The Central Electricity Authority issued draft technical standards for grid connection in July 2026. They would cover bulk consumers connected at 33 kV and above, which includes large data centres.

West Bengal's Data Centre Policy was notified on 6 September 2021 for five years. It offers a full stamp duty waiver and a five-year electricity duty waiver. We found no renewal or successor policy.