UK firm proposes $2bn investment in Bangladesh AI data centre plan

The proposed facility would combine high-performance computing, Bengali-language AI development and sovereign data infrastructure, while experts urge careful planning around electricity, water use and environmental impacts.

Global companies are showing interest in developing artificial intelligence data centres in Bangladesh, with representatives from the United Kingdom, Japan and South Korea holding discussions with the government as a UK-based company proposes an investment of about $2 billion.

The British firm, ADIC, wants to build an AI data centre at Kaliakair in Gazipur, the Sirajganj Economic Zone or another economic zone in Bangladesh.

The company says the project could strengthen Bangladesh’s sovereignty in artificial intelligence, support the development of a Bengali-language large language model, or LLM, and expand the country’s AI research and high-performance computing capacity.

ADIC says the project could create about 10,000 jobs, generate more than 50,000 indirect employment opportunities and directly benefit 60,000 families.

“We have held discussions with various global companies about AI data centres. Expanding Bangladesh’s data centre infrastructure over the next four to five years is extremely important,” said Rehan Asif Asad, adviser to the prime minister on the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology and the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Asad said the government’s objective was to build AI capabilities on top of data centre infrastructure so that startups, data centre operators, freelancers and innovators could develop applications and services using it.

“This is a government initiative through which AI-based public digital infrastructure will be developed to advance the country’s innovation and technology-driven services sector,” he said.

Md Mamunur Rashid Bhuiyan, secretary of Bangladesh’s Information and Communication Technology Division, said discussions were also under way with several countries.

“Discussions are ongoing with various countries regarding the establishment of AI data centres. Representatives from Japan, South Korea and other countries are discussing various technical issues. However, we have not yet received any specific proposal officially,” he said.

“The discussions are at a preliminary stage and formal proposals may come in the future.”

ADIC seeks $2 billion investment

ADIC has proposed building what it describes as Bangladesh’s first “Frontier AI Data Centre and Quantum-Ready Sovereign Compute Campus” through about $2 billion in foreign direct investment.

The company has submitted a strategic proposal seeking government support to establish the infrastructure in one of Bangladesh’s economic zones.

The proposal, signed by ADIC chief executive officer and AI infrastructure architect SM Anisur Rahman, who is also an associate professor at Ravensbourne University, was sent to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.

The investment would come through a consortium of investors, with Rahman, a Bangladeshi AI specialist who has worked at various companies around the world, seeking to bring together international banks and investors to finance the project in Bangladesh.

“Many people are bringing data centre concepts to Bangladesh, but they are primarily working for commercial purposes. Our approach is somewhat different. Alongside attracting foreign direct investment, or FDI, we want to build a data centre for Bangladesh that will help establish the country as an ‘AI factory’,” Rahman said.

“We want to build this infrastructure in such a way that it becomes an economic foundation for Bangladesh, just like the garment industry,” he said.

Rahman said the aim was to enable software, applications and any other AI-related activity to operate around the data centre.

“This would make it possible to build a local economy, develop skilled human resources and create a strong technology-based ecosystem. Our proposed investment in this project is about $2 billion. We want to invest this $2 billion in Bangladesh,” he said.

ADIC’s Bangladesh project director, engineer Mahfuzur Rahman of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, or BUET, and the project’s communications director Ashraful Islam Khan said proposals had been submitted to the prime minister’s office, the posts, telecommunications and information technology minister and the ministry.

“We have proposed allocating a site in the Sirajganj Economic Zone or at Kaliakair Hi-Tech Park. We have already visited Kaliakair Hi-Tech Park. We are continuing discussions at various levels of the government on building the AI data centre,” they said.

Three-phase development plan

According to the proposal, the project would be developed in three phases.

During the first phase, over the next 24 months, a frontier AI data centre with a capacity of 30 to 50 megawatts would be constructed.

It would house high-performance AI computing infrastructure designed to provide services to government agencies, private companies and international customers.

In the second phase, between 24 and 60 months, the data centre’s capacity would be expanded to between 100 and 200 megawatts, with the goal of developing Bangladesh into a “regional AI compute hub” for South Asia.

The third, longer-term phase would add “quantum-ready infrastructure” and seek to establish a national ecosystem for AI research and innovation.

Bengali-language LLM planned

The proposal says most of Bangladesh’s data and digital services currently depend on infrastructure located abroad.

If implemented, the project would allow data to be stored inside Bangladesh and reduce the loss of foreign currency, according to the proposal.

It would also create an opportunity to develop a Bengali-language large language model aligned with national priorities and allow the information of about 180 million people to be stored under Bangladesh’s own legal framework.

The proposal says the project could create more than 10,000 highly skilled direct jobs in artificial intelligence, engineering and digital infrastructure.

It also projects more than 50,000 indirect jobs across supply chains and service sectors, with more than 60,000 families benefiting over the long term.

100MW captive power plant proposed

ADIC has also proposed building a 100-megawatt captive power plant to provide uninterrupted electricity to the data centre, with plans for further expansion in the future.

The proposal includes the use of renewable energy, including solar power, and would allow surplus electricity to be supplied to the national grid.

The company has sought several forms of policy support from the government, including designation of the project as a “national priority investment project”, expedited regulatory approvals and licensing and access to high-capacity electricity and water supplies.

It has also requested multi-terabit submarine cable connectivity and the allocation and finalisation of ownership of land for the project in one of Bangladesh’s economic zones or another suitable location.

Officials familiar with the discussions said ADIC was not the only prospective investor, with Japan and South Korea also interested in investing in AI data centres in Bangladesh.

They could not, however, provide details about the potential scale of those investments or other information about the proposals.

Foreign investment welcomed

Fahim Mashroor, former president of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services, or BASIS, described foreign investment interest in AI data centres as positive but called for an assessment of existing facilities before the government committed significant public funds to new projects.

“Foreign investment interest in AI data centres is positive. However, before deciding on major new investments using public funds, it is necessary to assess the utilisation, capacity and effectiveness of existing data centres,” Mashroor said.

“The previous government also made large investments in various data centre projects. Before taking up new projects, their current condition and how effectively they are being used should be evaluated.”

Mashroor said foreign investors seeking to invest in AI data centres should be welcomed.

“However, at this moment, I am not in favour of major government-funded investment in new data centres. Instead, it is more important to support the private sector and create an environment for investment,” he said.

Tanvir Ibrahim, president of the Bangladesh Association of Contact Center and Outsourcing, or BACCO, described AI as a second opportunity for Bangladesh.

“If we can adopt AI properly, it will be possible to significantly reduce the gap in skills and service quality with countries such as India and the Philippines. Using AI, we will be able to provide higher-quality, faster and more cost-effective services,” Ibrahim said.

He said strong data centre infrastructure would allow domestic entrepreneurs to develop AI-based applications and services and compete in international markets.

Information technology specialist Tanvir Hasan Zoha said data centres had become the most important strategic infrastructure of the AI era alongside software.

“Bangladesh has several data centres across the public and private sectors. Recently, significant capacity has been added to the national data centre for GPU cloud, AI computing and Bengali LLM development,” he said.

“The government has introduced new GPU infrastructure, about 40 petaflops of computing capacity, AI cloud and new cloud services, which is a positive development. But this is not the end. An AI data centre is not merely a place to keep servers. It is the foundation of a country’s digital sovereignty, national security, research, health, education, smart government and future economy.”

Zoha said countries controlling AI compute would also lead future innovation and economic development.

“Bangladesh’s next major investment should be in AI-ready Tier III/Tier IV data centres, high-capacity GPU clusters, uninterrupted electricity and skilled AI infrastructure. Because future competition will not be only about data, but also computing power,” he said.

Environmental challenges highlighted

Experts also warned that the environmental implications of AI data centres, particularly their demand for clean water and energy, would need close attention.

Md Sahab Uddin Riyad, chief sustainability officer of IT company Smart Build, which works with AI, said clean water was one of the most important requirements for AI data centres.

“These data centres require huge amounts of clean water to operate. Even if a large AI data centre opens today in another country, it could have an impact on Bangladesh as a climate-vulnerable country. So we need to start planning for water and energy management now, not 10 years from now,” Riyad said.

“If large-scale AI data centres are developed in Bangladesh, advance planning is essential, taking into account the existing water and energy shortages. Otherwise, a major crisis could emerge in the future.”

Syed Almas Kabir, another former BASIS president, said heat generation presented one of the biggest environmental challenges.

“The biggest challenge of AI data centres is their high heat generation. Operating these data centres requires huge amounts of water cooling, which is a major environmental challenge for a country like Bangladesh. The environmental impact of AI data centres is already being discussed around the world,” he said.

Responding to concerns about possible environmental damage, ADIC’s Rahman said environmental safeguards had been part of the project from the outset.

“From the beginning, our goal has been to build an AI infrastructure that advances innovation but does not compromise the environment or the welfare of local communities,” he said.

“We are using modern technologies such as direct liquid cooling and closed-loop cooling systems so that water consumption can be significantly reduced and energy efficiency increased.”

Rahman said the company also aimed to power a significant part of the data centre through solar, wind and sustainable waste-to-energy technologies where they proved effective and practical.

“Every design and plan for the data centre is being developed in a way that minimises environmental impact while ensuring world-class AI computing capacity,” he said.

“We are committed to protecting local biodiversity and ecosystems. Everything will be kept fully compliant with environmental laws and regulations.”

Global AI data centre race accelerates

Competition to build AI infrastructure is accelerating internationally as the use of artificial intelligence expands.

More than 100 large and medium-sized AI data centres are currently under construction or being expanded across the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East, including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and Asia, including Malaysia, Singapore and India.

Although precise figures are unavailable, the number of hyperscale and GPU-based AI compute campuses is growing rapidly.

Many Bangladeshis and people of Bangladeshi origin are working on AI data centres around the world and want to bring investment to Bangladesh, an interest viewed positively by people involved in the country’s information technology sector.

This post is republished from Jago News 24.