New Delhi: The data centre capacity of India is expected to increase six-fold from around 1.5 Gigawatt (GW) in 2025 to 8-10 GW by 2030. As a direct result of it, the electricity consumption from the sector is also estimated to rise from 10-15 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2024 to 40-45 TWh by 2030, reported Financial Express.According to Deloitte Asia Pacific’s Powering Asia Pacific’s Data Centre Boom report, this fast expansion will increase the share of data centres in India’s total electricity demand from around 0.8% right now to as much as 2.5–3% by the end of the decade. It will position the sector among the fastest-growing power consumers in the country.The report has also warned of the fact that the power generation growth and grid readiness are already being outstripped by the pace of the new data centre because it is creating a widening energy supply gap that could end up being the biggest bottleneck for India’s digital and artificial intelligence ambitions.“India has a rare structural opportunity to rise as one of the world’s leading data centre hubs, powered by its cost competitiveness, deep talent and rapidly expanding renewable energy base,” Debasish Mishra, Chief Growth Officer, Deloitte South Asia told Financial Express.“The defining moment will be how swiftly power availability and transmission readiness scale with the country’s digital ambition. With the right alignment of policy, grid infrastructure and renewable deployment, India can build AI infrastructure that is globally competitive, sustainable and future ready, and position itself at the heart of the next era of digital growth,” he added.The report reveals that owing to the tremendous speed in which the new data centres are growing, much faster than electricity supply additions, it is resulting on more pressure on state grids. This challenge is being particularly seen in high-growth digital corridors such as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.By 2030, data centres in these states could add 2–3 GW of peak electricity demand each, which is equivalent to 5-20% of their current peak load, substantially stressing local power systems during high-demand seasons unless large-scale grid strengthening is undertaken, reported Financial Express.