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Union Minister of Railways of India, Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday that AI data centres will drive India's next phase of digital growth, speaking at the inauguration ceremony of Jabil India Pvt Ltd's new manufacturing facility in Pune. He called them a crucial pillar for the country's digital economy in the coming decade.
"AI data centres have become a huge growth engine worldwide. Manufacturing all the major electronic components of AI data centres in India is crucial," Vaishnaw said. He added that this focus is "a crucial point in the Prime Minister's Make in India plan" as Jabil begins producing data centre components at the new Pune plant, which he described as "a very modern, advanced, high-tech facility with excellent capacity." The minister said the next 5-10 years will be defined by how quickly India scales computing, power and cooling infrastructure for AI workloads. He noted that the government, working with states like Maharashtra, is streamlining land, energy and regulatory approvals to help hyperscalers and cloud players set up large-scale data centres faster. Domestic manufacturing of servers, cooling systems, semiconductors and PCBs will cut import dependence and create high-skill jobs across the value chain, he said. Vaishnaw also linked the expansion to broader connectivity and logistics upgrades around Pune. He said a campaign to double railway capacity in the city is underway, with work completed at Harabshar, Khadki and Shivaji Nagar platforms, a mega terminal coming up at Alandi, and six new platforms planned at Pune Junction. He added that a Mumbai-Pune bullet train was proposed in this budget and will cut travel time to 48 minutes, while the first section of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor will be inaugurated next year. "India has been established as a trusted partner globally due to the foreign policy adopted by the Prime Minister. That is why India is considered a preferred destination worldwide, especially in the electronics sector," Vaishnaw said, noting that electronics manufacturing is now India's third-largest export category and employs around 12 lakh people. (ANI)
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