India, Oct. 11 -- In a major policy push for India's booming digital infrastructure, the Maharashtra government has cleared the way for data centres coming up in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane and surrounding areas to generate and distribute their own green energy.

The state energy department has issued an order allowing data centre parks and individual units - notified by the industries department - to set up captive power generation and distribution facilities. The clearance is limited to renewable energy sources such as solar, hydro, or wind.

The move, industry experts say, could be a game changer for the data centre ecosystem, which demands uninterrupted 24x7 power and consumes enormous amounts of electricity. Data centres are often des...