Overview

On 10 October 2026, at the India Mobile Congress in New Delhi, Submer India Private Limited (Submer) and BSNL Tower Corporation Limited (BTCL), a wholly‑owned subsidiary of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore the development of sovereign, AI‑ready data‑centre infrastructure across India.

Objectives and Scope

The MoU sets out a joint assessment of opportunities that include:

  • GPU‑as‑a‑Service offerings;
  • A sovereign AI cloud model leveraging BSNL’s nationwide network and indigenous 4G/5G core;
  • Edge and micro‑edge data‑centre deployments;
  • Large‑scale data‑centre projects with capacities of up to 20 MW.

Both parties will evaluate the technical and commercial feasibility, connectivity, scalability, energy efficiency, and the specific requirements of government and enterprise workloads.

Roles and Contributions

Submer will apply its expertise in integrated data‑centre architecture, liquid‑cooling, thermal management, and high‑density computing, treating cooling, power, facilities and IT infrastructure as a single system from the outset. BTCL will coordinate access to relevant BSNL exchanges and data‑centre facilities, support connectivity, ensure regulatory alignment, and engage with government and enterprise stakeholders.

Strategic Rationale

The collaboration aims to create a sovereign AI cloud model that provides government bodies and enterprises with secure, high‑performance computing capacity while keeping data processing within national requirements. By combining BSNL’s extensive nationwide network and strategic facilities with Submer’s advanced data‑centre systems, the partnership seeks to build AI infrastructure that is distributed where needed—from strategic edge locations to large‑scale AI data‑centres.

Statements from Leadership

  • Shri Robert Jerard Ravi, Chairman and Managing Director of BSNL, said AI will play an increasingly important role in India’s digital transformation and that the MoU is a step toward evaluating how BSNL’s infrastructure can support sovereign AI capabilities.
  • Shri Sudhakar Rao Papa, Director, Enterprise Business, BSNL, highlighted the need for a practical path for government bodies and enterprises to adopt AI without compromising performance, security, or data sovereignty.
  • Shri Jitendra Garg, ITS, PGM (BTCL) BSNL Corporate Office, emphasized the partnership’s strong foundation for evaluating new AI infrastructure opportunities for public‑sector and enterprise customers.
  • Anupam Shrivastava, Head of Submer India, noted that the joint model will bring infrastructure, network reach, and engineering expertise together to make sovereign AI capacity available where it is needed.

Expected Outcomes

The MoU envisions coordinated opportunity development, stakeholder engagement, technical workshops, and enablement programmes to support AI infrastructure adoption across India. The parties will assess the suitability of existing BSNL exchange and data‑centre facilities for transformation into distributed edge infrastructure, aiming to build the physical capacity required for India’s AI economy.

About the Companies

Submer India is an AI data‑centre solution provider that designs, builds and manages modular data‑centre infrastructure for demanding workloads, leveraging extensive liquid‑cooling expertise to deliver efficient, sustainable, high‑density AI factories. BTCL’s core mission is to operate, manage and monetize mission‑critical telecom infrastructure assets across the country, leveraging BSNL’s vast network of exchanges and telecom towers to support India’s expanding connectivity and edge‑computing demands.