Riding the wave of growing demand for AI and cloud services in Bangladesh, Summit Group has announced plans to build a state-of-the-art, large-scale data centre in the country within the next year, said its Chairman Muhammed Aziz Khan.

Aziz Khan indicated that Summit is poised to partner with a global tech titan for the venture.

As the nation's premier private power producer, Summit Power International will serve as the project's energy backbone, leveraging its robust gas-based infrastructure to guarantee the high-uptime, seamless power supply essential for Tier-1 data center operations.

"Summit Group's key focus going forward will be energy and data growth, with the aim of strengthening Bangladesh's LNG sector and fibre-optic infrastructure," Aziz Khan said in an online interview with Japan-based Nikkei Asia.

Summit currently supplies around seven percent of Bangladesh's total energy demand through its 10 gas-based plants and five power plants. In the digital connectivity sector, another Summit concern-Summit Communications-accounts for more than half of the country's internet supply and is a leading provider of fibre-optic internet services.

According to the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the number of internet and smartphone users in Bangladesh is increasing steadily, driving growing demand for cloud services, mobile applications and artificial intelligence. In this context, JICA believes the establishment of a full-fledged data centre in Bangladesh has become essential.

The government promulgated the Personal Data Protection Ordinance in 2024, restricting the transfer of both personal and aggregate data outside the country. However, due to the lack of domestic data centres, a significant volume of data continues to be hosted by foreign corporate entities.

JICA noted that establishing local data centres would significantly strengthen Bangladesh's data protection regime.

JICA also observed that amid ongoing political uncertainty, attracting private investment in data centres remains challenging. Nevertheless, it believes that such projects are feasible if a domestic company takes the initiative.

Aziz Khan said Summit is currently seeking a reliable external business partner with proven experience in data centre development and marketing capabilities.

"We have been in contact with seven major global tech companies-Alphabet, Microsoft, Tesla, Nvidia, Apple, Amazon and Meta Platforms. Some of them have shown interest in working together. Summit will finalise a partnership decision within this year," he said.

Initially, Summit plans to locate the data centre near one of its gas power plants close to Dhaka. The group intends to operate the facility using its own land assets.

"The three key requirements for a data centre are electricity, fibre and land-and Summit has all three. Although establishing a fully operational data centre will take several years, we aim to open services for customers within 18 months," Aziz Khan said.

He acknowledged concerns that the high electricity demand of data centres could hinder Bangladesh's renewable energy targets.

Summit Group, however, believes global realities have changed, and Bangladesh must adapt accordingly.

Aziz Khan said that until two years ago, Summit had planned to shut down all hydrocarbon-based power plants by 2050, but current domestic and global conditions have made that goal unfeasible for now.

"We still have major plans to invest in solar and hydropower projects in India, Nepal and Bhutan and import clean energy into Bangladesh. However, strained relations between Bangladesh and India have become a major obstacle to implementing these initiatives," he said.

Aziz Khan also noted that while investment remains challenging ahead of the next national election, Summit Group remains committed to continuing its operations in Bangladesh under all circumstances.

He expressed optimism that operating under an elected government would be positive for the country and for long-term investment prospects.