India, June 5 -- Data centres are the engine rooms of the global digital economy, which artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping. Collectively, data centres form "the cloud" that stores, processes and generates our precious information. But their insatiable appetite for energy is such that data-centre capacity is no longer measured in computing power, but rather in their energy consumption. This has profound implications for India's electricity demand and supply.

The Union government has taken significant steps to bolster the data centre segment of the digital economy, granting it infrastructure status and encouraging local and international investment. Over the past decade, this has attracted investments estimated at $6.5 billi...