Indian billionaire Gautam Adani plans AI hardware venture with US firm Jabil

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani's flagship company, Adani Enterprises Ltd., has signed a memorandum of understanding with U.S. contract manufacturer Jabil Inc. to form a 50:50 joint venture that would make artificial intelligence and data center hardware in India.

The proposed venture would manufacture and assemble AI racks, servers, storage and networking equipment, along with power distribution units, liquid-cooling systems and transformers, the companies said in a statement on Tuesday. It would also offer installation and commissioning services and is expected to have multi-gigawatt AI rack manufacturing capacity, serving hyperscale cloud companies, so-called neoclouds, data center operators and large businesses in India and abroad.

The memorandum is non-binding. The joint venture still depends on definitive agreements, regulatory approvals and other customary conditions, and the companies did not say how much they plan to invest or when production would start. The agreement follows a June announcement in which the two companies said they intended to form a strategic alliance.

"The AI revolution will demand far more than just breakthroughs in algorithms," said Adani, the chairman of the Adani Group. He said the group's vision was to move up the AI value chain, from powering and hosting AI infrastructure to engineering and manufacturing the systems behind it. "Our proposed joint venture with Jabil marks a strategic step towards this future," he said.

Jabil Chief Executive Mike Dastoor said the agreement was "the next step forward in our shared efforts" with Adani. "We look forward to building on the work we started together in June," he said.

A $100 billion data center plan

The venture fits into the Adani Group's $100 billion plan to build 5 gigawatts of renewable-powered, hyperscale data center capacity in India by 2035. The companies said India's data center capacity is projected to reach 5 to 8 gigawatts by 2030, and estimated the global opportunity in AI infrastructure at more than $3 trillion over the next seven years. India's 2026 budget gave data centers a tax holiday that runs until 2047.

Jabil, based in St. Petersburg, Florida, reported revenue of $36 billion in its 2026 fiscal year. The company has been expanding its data center business and has acquired Ireland's Hanley Energy Group and cooling specialist Mikros Technologies.

Shares of Adani Enterprises closed 2.47% higher at ₹2,695 ($27.87) on the National Stock Exchange on Tuesday, before the agreement was announced after market hours, according to Upstox.

Rupee bond plan

Adani Enterprises is also preparing to raise about ₹20 billion ($207 million) through rupee-denominated bonds, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing two merchant bankers. The company plans to sell bonds maturing in less than five years and may aim to complete the sale within the current quarter, the bankers said. Pricing and other terms have not been finalized, and the money would be used for general corporate purposes. Adani Enterprises did not reply to Reuters' request for comment.

The planned bond sale follows a one-notch upgrade of the company's long-term credit rating to AA from AA- by CareEdge Ratings last week, which cited a stronger financial risk profile. Adani Enterprises raised ₹10 billion ($103 million) through its third public bond issue earlier this year, after earlier public issues in September 2024 and July 2025. In October 2025, it sold ₹10 billion of privately placed bonds maturing in two and a half years with an 8.70% semi-annual coupon.

Adani, 64, built the group from a commodities trading business into India's largest ports operator and a major player in power, airports, mining and green energy. Forbes valued Adani and his family at $112.7 billion on Sept. 30, ranking him India's richest person.