Archive · 5 Sep 2026
India’s AI Data-Centre Expansion Faces a Talent Bottleneck
India is building many new facilities to power artificial intelligence.
These facilities need electricity, cooling, computers and skilled workers.
India’s data-centre capacity could grow from about 1.4 gigawatts in 2025 to 8 gigawatts by 2030.
However, there may not be enough people who know how to run and protect these complicated facilities.
A report says India already has a large shortage of workers for important operations jobs.
AI data centres need people with knowledge of computers, networks, electricity, cooling and cybersecurity.
The article says experienced workers from technology, telecom and engineering fields could be retrained quickly.
Universities and companies are also encouraged to create more practical training.
Without enough skilled workers, India might have to pay foreign experts to operate some of its infrastructure.
India’s data-centre capacity is projected to grow from about 1.4 GW in the second quarter of 2025 to around 8 GW by 2030.
The country generates nearly 20 per cent of the world’s data but hosts only about 3 per cent of global data centres.
A March 2026 Quess Corp report estimates that 86,000–90,000 professionals currently work across India’s data-centre and cloud-infrastructure ecosystem.
The report estimates a 73 per cent shortage in core IT-operations roles and a Supply Sufficiency Index of 47 for AI-operations talent.
The article argues that reskilling existing professionals and expanding industry-linked training are necessary to prevent dependence on foreign specialists.
- Who
- India’s data-centre operators, technology companies, engineers and workforce-training institutions are central to the issue; Quess Corp assessed the talent gap.
- What
- India is rapidly expanding AI-ready data-centre capacity but faces a shortage of specialised professionals to design, operate, secure and maintain it.
- When
- Capacity is discussed from the second quarter of 2025 through 2030, while the cited Quess Corp report was published in March 2026.
- Where
- India.
- Why
- AI workloads are increasing demand for specialised infrastructure skills, while energy availability and the supply of trained personnel remain constraints.
- Projected capacity
- India’s data-centre capacity is projected to increase from about 1.4 GW in the second quarter of 2025 to around 8 GW by 2030.
- Global data share
- India generates nearly 20 per cent of the world’s data.
- Global data-centre share
- India hosts about 3 per cent of global data centres.
- Current workforce
- The data-centre and cloud-infrastructure ecosystem employs an estimated 86,000–90,000 professionals across more than 50 providers.
- Operations talent shortage
- Quess Corp estimates a 73 per cent shortage in core IT-operations roles.
- AI-operations talent
- The Supply Sufficiency Index for AI-operations talent is estimated at 47.
- Expected AI workload share
- AI workloads are expected to account for nearly 30 per cent of data-centre capacity by 2026.