Budget’s Biggest Gorilla: Raamdeo Agrawal On Data Centre Opportunity

Calling it a “thousand-pound gorilla” in the Budget, veteran investor Raamdeo Agrawal says the 100% tax holiday for data centres could define India’s next decade of investing. From construction, cement, cables and cooling systems to massive power demand, batteries and green energy, the data centre ecosystem creates a powerful multiplier effect across industries. Agrawal argues this is not a distant dream but a real-time global infrastructure build-out - described by Nvidia as humanity’s largest-ever infra expansion. With a never-before-seen 22-year tax holiday, India is suddenly at the centre of this opportunity, signalling how aggressively the government is thinking about long-term growth. For investors, the challenge is clear: look beyond the short term and position portfolios for the next 10-15 years.