Andaman admin seeks firms to explore feasibility of AI data centre in Great Nicobar

The Andaman and Nicobar administration has invited private companies, including cloud service providers, AI infrastructure companies, and data-centre developers, interested in exploring the feasibility of establishing a "green" artificial intelligence (AI) or data centre vertical in Great Nicobar or Little Andaman.

The administration's Expression of Interest (EoI), dated August 10, said it was issued "purely for the purpose of market sounding, technology assessment, feasibility evaluation, and identification of potential private-sector interest."

The potential locations for the vertical could be Great Nicobar's Campbell Bay Sea, Anderson Bay Sea, Vijay Nagar Bay Sea, Gandhi Nagar Bay Sea, Little Andaman's Hutbay Sea, and Netaji Nagar Sea.

The development came amid concerns about the environmental impacts of the upcoming Great Nicobar mega infrastructure project.

This Rs 81,000-crore project, spread over 166 sq km, comprises the construction of a transhipment port, an integrated township, a civil and military airport, and a 450-MVA gas- and solar-powered plant.

The latest EoI said, "The Andaman & Nicobar Administration invites Expressions of Interest (EoIs)... from reputed hyperscalers, cloud service providers, AI infrastructure companies, data-centre developers and operators, marine-engineering companies, renewable-energy companies, sub-sea connectivity providers and other technically qualified entities... for exploring the feasibility of establishing a Private Sector-led Green AI/Data Centre Vertical in Great Nicobar or Little Andaman."

It added that the vertical was intended to "explore the development of a future-ready, energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable digital infrastructure ecosystem leveraging the strategic location and natural advantages of the Islands."

The vertical can include hyperscale and/or AI-focused data centre infrastructure; graphics processing unit (GPU) and high-performance computing infrastructure; cloud computing and sovereign digital infrastructure; and renewable-energy-powered data centre operations.

It may also consist of seawater-based or other innovative cooling systems; freshwater-free cooling solutions; waste-heat recovery and potential utilisation for low-temperature desalination or other productive applications; and submarine and terrestrial digital connectivity.

The EoI highlighted that "it does not constitute a tender, request for proposal, offer, commitment, assurance or promise of any award, concession, financial support, land allotment or other commercial benefit by the Administration."

Interested companies need to send their proposals to the office of the Secretary, Andaman and Nicobar Administration's Department of Information Technology within 45 days from the EoI's publication date.