MUMBAI, India, Feb 17, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - India's Adani Group said Tuesday it plans to invest $100 billion by 2035 to develop "hyperscale AI-ready data centres", a boost to New Delhi's push to become a global artificial intelligence hub.

The announcement comes as India hosts a five-day global AI summit that will see deliberations over issues ranging from job disruption to child safety.

The summit will gather 20 national leaders and 45 ministerial-level delegations -- with the key day on Thursday -- who will rub shoulders with tech CEOs including Sam Altman of OpenAI and Google's Sundar Pichai.

The $100 billion investment would catalyse an additional $150 billion in spending across "server manufacturing, advanced electrical infrastructure, sovereign cloud platforms and supporting industries", the Adani Group said in a statement.

"Together, this is projected to create a $250 billion AI infrastructure ecosystem in India over the decade," the statement noted.

The sprawling ports-to-power conglomerate said its vision is "anchored" by key partnerships with Google -- which aims to establish a massive data centre campus in the coastal city of Visakhapatnam -- and Microsoft.

"The Adani Group is also in discussion with other major players seeking to establish large scale campuses across India thereby further cementing its position as India's premier AI infrastructure partner," the statement added.

Last year India leapt to third place -- overtaking South Korea and Japan -- in an annual global ranking of AI competitiveness calculated by Stanford University researchers.

But despite plans for large-scale infrastructure and grand ambitions for innovation, experts say the country has a long way to go before it can rival the United States and China.