Bihar’s surplus power and lower tariffs could support nine to 12 mid-sized data centres without new generation.
This positions the state as a tier-two hub for enterprise and government cloud.
Experts urge single-window clearances, green energy, dark-fibre links to Kolkata and state-backed demand.
These can help attract up to $4 billion investment and 51,500 jobs by 2035.
Bihar has enough spare electricity capacity to support nine to 12 mid-sized data centres without adding new power generation, according to a policy brief released by One Trillion Bihar, an independent research initiative developed through consultations with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Energiva Ventures.
According to the policy brief, eastern India — including Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and the northeastern states — accounts for more than a quarter of India's population but less than 3 per cent of the country's data centre capacity. Bihar, it says, is well placed to bridge part of this gap because of its power surplus, lower operating costs and growing renewable energy ambitions. The state currently has no major hyperscale or colocation data centre cluster.
"Bihar stands at a rare inflection point. We continue to export our surplus power and our people in search of opportunity elsewhere," said Mani Bhushan Jha, Honorary Fellow at One Trillion Bihar. "This report shows a pathway to do the opposite: Bring the digital economy to Bihar, powered by Bihar's own clean energy under the RE Policy 2025."
He added that a green-powered data centre ecosystem is an infrastructure story, a livelihood story, an economic story — and a statement that Bihar belongs in India's AI and data infrastructure conversation. "Realising it will demand institutions that can move at the speed of investment: single-window clearances that deliver in 90 days, government willing to be the first customer of its own digital future, and a workforce built here, for Bihar."
Bihar recorded a power surplus of 3,986 million units in 2022-23, equivalent to about 455 MW of average spare capacity. Installed power capacity has nearly doubled since 2017-18, reaching 9,510 MW by June 2024. Combined with industrial electricity tariffs estimated to be 25-30 per cent lower than Mumbai's and a target of 23.97 GW of renewable energy with 6.1 GWh of energy storage by 2029-30, Bihar could emerge as a tier-two data centre destination catering to enterprise, government cloud, disaster recovery and other latency-tolerant digital services.
The state's broader economic growth also supports the case. Bihar's gross state domestic product increased from Rs 2.47 lakh crore in 2011-12 to Rs 8.54 lakh crore in 2023-24, while the services sector now contributes nearly 59 per cent of the state's economy.
It proposes a phased rollout beginning with 50 MW of data centre capacity by 2030, expanding to 200 MW by 2035 and 800 MW by 2047. This timeline aligns with the Union Budget 2026-27 tax holiday available to foreign cloud providers operating through Indian data centres.
Gaya has been identified as the preferred location for initial investments because of its relatively lower seismic risk. Patna is also considered suitable, subject to earthquake-resistant design standards, while Muzaffarpur is recommended only for edge computing and disaster recovery because of its higher seismic and flood risks. Later phases could expand to Begusarai and Bhagalpur.
A 200 MW ecosystem could attract nearly $4 billion in investments and generate around 51,500 jobs by 2035 across construction, operations, support services and digital industries. However, it notes that only around 2,000-2,500 of these would be direct data centre jobs, with most employment expected to come from Global Capability Centres (GCC) and other digital businesses attracted by the supporting infrastructure.
However, several barriers remain before Bihar can attract private investment.
Despite having surplus electricity, transmission infrastructure will need strengthening to support large industrial loads. It recommends developing dedicated substations and sub-transmission networks for future data centre clusters.
Digital connectivity remains another challenge. Since Bihar has no submarine cable landing station, it also proposes a state-supported dark-fibre ring connecting Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur and Begusarai to Kolkata's cable gateway. Estimated to cost Rs 400-500 crore, the network would provide latency suitable for enterprise workloads and disaster recovery services.
The state also lacks a specialised data centre workforce. To address this, it recommends establishing a Centre of Excellence at IIT Patna or NIELIT Patna, initially supported by experienced professionals from established markets while training a local talent pipeline.
Water availability is another concern. Instead of relying on groundwater, the report recommends mandatory closed-loop cooling systems supplied with treated wastewater from sewage treatment plants to reduce freshwater consumption.
Perhaps the biggest hurdle is demand. Bihar currently has no significant Global Capability Centre ecosystem, making it difficult to attract private operators. To overcome this, it proposes that the state government become the first anchor customer by migrating public digital services — including land records, electricity billing, health databases and JEEViKA platforms — to Bihar-based facilities. Such guaranteed demand, it argued, could improve investor confidence and help establish the state's first large-scale data centre ecosystem.
The brief lays out nine specific policy elements for the state government. These include a dedicated data centre and cloud services policy, a single-window clearance system with a 90-day approval commitment, capital subsidies for Tier III / IV facilities capped at Rs 50 crore per project, preferential power tariffs of Rs 5.50-6.00 per unit for large commitments, renewable energy banking provisions allowing operators to offset night-time consumption against daytime solar generation, and designated 200-500 acre data centre zones led by the Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority.
It recommended most of these be implemented through institutional readiness and land-use planning rather than large fiscal outlays, saying only the capital subsidy component requires significant direct spending.