Indian IT company HCLTech teamed with AI start-up Sarvam to build a data centre in the eastern state of Odisha, tapping increasing demand for the technology and cloud computing.

The project is expected to cost around INR142.6 billion ($1.5 billion), with financial assistance from the government of Odisha, HCLTech stated.

It pitched the data centre as central to boosting sovereign AI and the local developer ecosystem, employing the full-stack of its capabilities with the technology along with Sarvam’s foundation models to tailor services for private and public sector enterprises.

The company stated the data centre would also help to deliver multi-lingual AI-based services in line with calls from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the technology to benefit all citizens.

HCLTech is building its relationship with Sarvam AI after acquiring a 10.5% stake in the business for $150 million.

This month, it struck a $1.1 billion deal with an unnamed European company.

HCLTech CEO and MD C Vijayakumar said the data centre in Odisha is an important milestone in its full stack AI play, explaining the state offers “a progressive policy environment backed by excellent infrastructure”.

In November 2025, rival Tata Consultancy Services also announced plans to develop AI data centres in partnership with private equity company TPG and investing around $2 billion.

HCLTech separately outlined a plan to open a technology centre in the city of Bhubaneswar, also in Odisha.

It intends for the site to be operational by 2028, housing around 5,000 employees.

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KDDI predicted a greater role for drones in disaster response after completing tests operating a craft connected through satellite rather than its terrestrial mobile network.

It noted tests conducted in May using SpaceX’s Starlink satellites advance the potential role for drones in disaster recovery by removing gaps in the reach of mobile networks from the operational equation.

KDDI stated the satellites were confirmed as a viable means of connecting remotely operated drones, boosting potential use cases for public and private sector organisations.

It expects search and rescue, environmental monitoring and infrastructure inspection to be among the use cases the expanded drone operations could deliver.

The operator worked with specialist division KDDI Smart Drone on the trial and stated the pair are committed to developing a set-up enabling access to remotely-controlled craft anywhere in Japan in under ten-minutes.

KDDI plans to further develop its remote drone operation capabilities by authenticating the best combination of network connectivity and refining the handoff between mobile and satellite networks.

It aims to create a reliable beyond-visual-line-of-site remote drone operation system which could be tailored to specific use cases and geographies.

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