New Delhi, March 17 -- A new employment engine could be emerging for India's engineering graduates as the country accelerates the build-out of the digital backbone powering its online economy, offering a potential counterweight to slowing hiring in information technology (IT) services.

Data localization, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and tax holidays are combining to double the projected size of India's data centre industry over the next six years. This is expected to generate over 100,000 jobs for engineering graduates in the coming years.

Since January 2025, homegrown conglomerates such as Reliance Industries Ltd, Adani Enterprises and Tata Sons, independent data centre firms such as Airtel's Nxtra, Equinix and Hiranandani'...