India Investor Conference 2026 : India's Power Infrastructure Boom and Data Center Growth Opportunity

ICICI Securities Ltd - INZ000183631

At the India Investor Conference 2026, Kushal Desai, Chairman and Managing Director of APAR Industries, shared his perspective on the forces reshaping the global power sector and the opportunities emerging across transmission, distribution, renewable energy, data centers, and power infrastructure.

Rising Electricity Demand Is Creating a Long-Term Opportunity

According to Desai, electricity demand is entering a period of sustained growth driven by several structural factors.

Energy security has regained importance across the world. Governments and businesses are accelerating investments in power infrastructure, generation assets, and transmission networks. Renewable energy continues to attract significant investment because of its scalability, modular nature, and relatively short installation timelines.

Solar and wind are expected to remain important contributors to future power generation. At the same time, fossil fuels continue to play a role because they provide base load power. In markets such as the United States, gas-based generation is supporting the growing demand from data centers.

This growth in electricity demand is creating a large opportunity in transmission and distribution infrastructure. Desai highlighted a global transmission and distribution opportunity of approximately 3 trillion dollars through 2032.

The Drivers Behind Higher Power Consumption

While electricity demand generally grows in line with economic growth, Desai identified several factors that are pushing demand beyond normal gross domestic product growth.

Data centers are becoming a major source of electricity consumption.

Industrial activity is expanding in countries such as India and across Southeast Asia.

Urbanization is driving higher power requirements through commercial developments, residential redevelopment projects, and modern infrastructure.

The electrification of transportation is increasing demand across railways, metro systems, buses, taxis, and other public transport networks.

Energy storage solutions are becoming increasingly important as renewable energy contributes a larger share of power generation.

Together, these trends are creating what Desai described as a multi-decadal opportunity for the power sector.

Why Transmission Networks Are Becoming More Important

One of the biggest challenges facing power systems worldwide is the need to modernize aging infrastructure.

The rise of renewable energy has increased complexity within transmission networks because power can flow in multiple directions. Seasonal variations in generation also create additional operational challenges.

In the United States, the growth of data centers and energy-intensive industrial activity is increasing pressure on existing transmission systems. Europe is facing similar requirements as it expands renewable energy capacity and strengthens grid connectivity.

Another major trend is the adoption of higher-voltage technologies such as high-voltage direct current systems and 765 kilovolt alternating current networks, which improve efficiency across long-distance transmission corridors.

India's Renewable Energy and Transmission Expansion

India has established a target of 500 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2030.

Desai noted that renewable energy additions have already reached the required pace to support this target. Solar energy and wind energy remain the key areas of expansion.

Wind energy is gaining renewed momentum because of India's long coastline and strong wind corridors. APAR's own renewable energy assets illustrate the importance of wind generation, with wind contributing a significantly larger share of annual electricity generation than solar despite similar installed capacities.

Coal and nuclear power are also expected to support India's future electricity requirements by providing base load generation.

Alongside generation capacity, India plans significant investments in transmission infrastructure. The planned transmission network expansion includes approximately 1.5 lakh circuit kilometers of transmission lines.

Distribution Reforms and Digital Infrastructure

The Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme continues to play an important role in strengthening India's power distribution network.

The program has focused on reducing technical losses and improving network efficiency. Investments are being directed toward smart meters, covered conductors, cables, and distribution transformers.

Desai also highlighted the growing importance of Optical Ground Wire networks.

Transmission towers traditionally carried earth wires that served a protective function. Today, these wires contain fiber optic cables that support data transmission. As India's data requirements continue to grow, increasing fiber density within these networks presents a significant opportunity.

Reconductoring Offers a Faster Solution

Rather than building entirely new transmission corridors, utilities can replace existing conductors with advanced solutions that carry significantly more power while using the same towers, permits, and right of way.

According to Desai, reconductoring can increase power transfer capacity by 100% to 150% while requiring less time and lower investment compared with constructing new transmission lines.

APAR has completed 272 reconductoring projects covering more than 7,000 kilometers across different terrains in India.

Data Centers Are Reshaping Power Demand

Data centers emerged as one of the most important themes in the presentation.

Global artificial intelligence infrastructure spending is expected to rise sharply through 2030, with data centers accounting for a large share of this investment.

Desai explained the difference between enterprise data centers and artificial intelligence data centers. Artificial intelligence facilities require substantially higher computing power and significantly greater electricity consumption.

As newer generations of computing hardware are introduced, power requirements continue to rise. This creates fresh demand for electrical infrastructure, cooling systems, specialized cables, and transmission capacity.

India currently has a relatively small installed data center base compared with global markets, but strong growth is expected over the coming years.

How APAR Industries Is Positioned

APAR defines its business around carrying electricity from generation sources to end consumers.

The company has focused its product development strategy on four priorities.

The first is increasing power transfer capacity.

The second is reducing transmission losses.

The third is improving safety.

The fourth is supporting environmental sustainability.

Desai explained that every product and solution developed by APAR is aligned with at least one of these objectives.

The company's portfolio spans conductors, cables, transformer oils, fiber connectivity solutions, and products designed for renewable energy installations, transmission systems, railways, defense applications, and data centers.

Innovation Across Conductors, Cables, and Transformer Oils

APAR has developed a range of conductor technologies designed to increase power transfer while reducing losses.

The company has also introduced solutions focused on durability, safety, and improved performance in challenging operating conditions.

In cables, APAR has introduced products such as Anu Shakti wires, Fire Protect wires, and recyclable green wire solutions.

On the transformer oil side, the company has built a strong position in products used for high-voltage direct current systems and has also developed synthetic ester and natural ester solutions designed for specialized applications.

The company is also working on immersion cooling solutions for future data center requirements.