Submer India Private Limited (Submer) and BSNL Tower Corporation Limited (BTCL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), have signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the India Mobile Congress 2026 to explore the development of sovereign, AI-ready data center infrastructure across India.
The collaboration will focus on infrastructure designed for the growing requirements of artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. Submer and BTCL will jointly assess opportunities spanning:
- GPU-as-a-Service
- Sovereign AI cloud infrastructure
- Edge and micro-edge data centers
- Large-scale data center projects of up to 20 MW
The parties will also evaluate the suitability of BSNL premises and data center facilities for transformation into distributed edge infrastructure. These assessments will consider technical and commercial feasibility, connectivity, scalability, energy efficiency, and the requirements of government, PSU, enterprise, research, and institutional workloads.
AI will play an increasingly important role in India’s digital transformation, creating demand for secure, high-performance computing infrastructure that can serve the country at scale, said Shri Robert Jerard Ravi, Chairman and Managing Director, BSNL. This MoU marks an important step in evaluating how BSNL’s nationwide infrastructure and connectivity footprint can support sovereign AI capabilities. Our collaboration with Submer will help us explore an infrastructure model designed around India’s long-term digital priorities.
Government bodies and enterprises need a practical path to adopt AI without compromising performance, security, or data sovereignty, said Shri Sudhakar Rao Papa, Director, Enterprise Business, BSNL. By assessing GPU-as-a-Service, sovereign cloud and distributed edge infrastructure, this collaboration aims to bring AI computing capacity closer to organizations across India and support a broader range of public-sector and enterprise applications.
India’s next phase of digital growth will depend on secure, scalable, and locally available computing infrastructure, said Shri Jitendra Garg, ITS, PGM (BTCL) BSNL Corporate Office. This collaboration combines BSNL’s extensive nationwide network and strategic facilities with Submer’s expertise in advanced data center systems. It gives us a strong foundation from which to evaluate new AI infrastructure opportunities for public-sector and enterprise customers.
India has the talent, demand, and digital reach to become a global AI infrastructure leader. The next step is to build the physical capacity that turns that ambition into deployable compute, said Anupam Shrivastava, Submer India Head. Together with BTCL, we are bringing infrastructure, network reach, and engineering expertise into one model. Our goal is clear: make sovereign AI capacity available where it is needed, from strategic edge locations to large-scale AI data centers.
Under the MoU, Submer will apply its expertise in integrated data center architecture, liquid cooling, thermal management, and high-density computing. Cooling, power, facilities, and IT infrastructure will be considered as one system from the outset, helping the parties assess infrastructure designed for the density and efficiency requirements of modern AI.
BTCL will coordinate access to relevant BSNL premises and data center facilities for technical and commercial feasibility studies. It will also support connectivity, regulatory alignment, and engagement with government and enterprise stakeholders.
A key area of assessment will be a sovereign AI cloud model that draws on BSNL’s network footprint and indigenous 4G and 5G core to support scalable, low-latency GPU-as-a-Service. The proposed model is intended to give government bodies and enterprises access to AI computing capacity while keeping infrastructure and data processing aligned with national requirements.
The collaboration will also include coordinated opportunity development, stakeholder engagement, technical workshops, and enablement programmes to support the adoption of AI infrastructure across India.
The MoU reflects a shared ambition to build the infrastructure behind India’s AI economy: sovereign by design, distributed where required, and engineered for the density and efficiency of modern computing.
Shri Robert Jerard Ravi, Chairman and Managing Director, BSNL
AI will play an increasingly important role in India’s digital transformation, creating demand for secure, high-performance computing infrastructure that can serve the country at scale. This MoU marks an important step in evaluating how BSNL’s nationwide infrastructure and connectivity footprint can support sovereign AI capabilities. Our collaboration with Submer will help us explore an infrastructure model designed around India’s long-term digital priorities.
Shri Sudhakar Rao Papa, Director, Enterprise Business, BSNL
Government bodies and enterprises need a practical path to adopt AI without compromising performance, security, or data sovereignty. By assessing GPU-as-a-Service, sovereign cloud and distributed edge infrastructure, this collaboration aims to bring AI computing capacity closer to organizations across India and support a broader range of public-sector and enterprise applications.
Shri Jitendra Garg, ITS, PGM (BTCL) BSNL Corporate Office
India’s next phase of digital growth will depend on secure, scalable, and locally available computing infrastructure. This collaboration combines BSNL’s extensive nationwide network and strategic facilities with Submer’s expertise in advanced data center systems. It gives us a strong foundation from which to evaluate new AI infrastructure opportunities for public-sector and enterprise customers.
Anupam Shrivastava, Submer India Head
India has the talent, demand, and digital reach to become a global AI infrastructure leader. The next step is to build the physical capacity that turns that ambition into deployable compute. Together with BTCL, we are bringing infrastructure, network reach, and engineering expertise into one model. Our goal is clear: make sovereign AI capacity available where it is needed, from strategic edge locations to large-scale AI data centers.
