Submer India Pvt. Ltd., part of the Submer Group, the full-stack AI infrastructure company, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with BSNL Tower Corporation Limited (BTCL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), India’s public sector telecommunications provider, to explore the development of sovereign, AI-ready data center infrastructure across India.
In a press release, the companies explained that the collaboration will focus on infrastructure designed for the growing requirements of artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. They will jointly assess opportunities spanning: GPU-as-a-Service, Sovereign AI cloud infrastructure, Edge and micro-edge data centers, as well as 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.”
“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.