With India's data-centre capacity set for a sharp expansion, investors are looking beyond quarterly earnings to identify the companies positioned to benefit from the infrastructure spending. Their order books offer a window into that opportunity, providing a measure of future revenue visibility as the artificial intelligence (AI) build-out gathers pace.
One of the defining themes of the Q2 FY27 earnings season is the capital expenditure cycle linked to India's data-centre and AI infrastructure build-out. The country's live data-centre capacity has crossed roughly 1.8 GW, following a record addition of 258 MW in the first half of FY27, and is projected to reach about 10.5 GW by 2031.
For investors, the scale of this expansion makes order books an important metric alongside revenue and profit growth. They indicate the volume of business companies have secured and offer clues to the potential trajectory of future revenues.
Three companies stand out for their exposure to different parts of this infrastructure chain: building facilities, powering projects and providing the optical connectivity that data centres need.
Larsen & Toubro (L&T), India's largest engineering and construction conglomerate, was incorporated in 1938. It operates across projects, hi-tech manufacturing and services, with businesses spanning infrastructure and utilities, energy, manufacturing and products, and technology platforms and services. The last houses its expanding data-centre, semiconductor and digital-platform businesses.