Expansion of India's power transmission network, alongside climbing electricity demand from data centres, is expected to widen commercial opportunities across engineering and capital goods sectors — with High-Voltage Direct Current technology identified in a 360 ONE Capital report as a central driver of that anticipated upturn.

Three forces — the push toward renewable energy on the grid, ongoing modernisation of power infrastructure, and the electricity demand of expanding data centres — point toward sustained demand for power equipment in the years ahead, according to the report.

Delays in delivery timelines, rising input costs, and an unsettled outlook for worldwide investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure each stand to temper the rate at which growth unfolds.

According to the report, projections place India's HVDC network at 55 GW by FY32, up from 34.5 GW in FY27, while the Central Electricity Authority has mapped out an additional 78 GW worth of HVDC projects slated for development through FY36. High-voltage direct current links are drawing growing attention in India's transmission planning as the country works to integrate more renewable generation into a power grid built for expansion.

Two findings within the document drew attention to how few suppliers serve the sector and to the role that delivering projects successfully plays in securing a place in future contract pipelines.

Forecast figures drawn from the report put India's installed data centre capacity on a trajectory from its present sub-2-gigawatt baseline toward somewhere between 13 and 18 gigawatts by the end of the decade. Steady electricity delivery and specialised grid hardware — transformers, switchgear, and management systems for the network — stand as operational requirements for those facilities.

According to the report, equipment vendors were positioned to draw a share of data centre expenditure — money flowing alongside legacy transmission infrastructure budgets rather than displacing them. Rising power consumption and the rapid build-out of digital infrastructure together stand to pull the sector's revenue sources beyond what conventional utility spending alone has historically provided.

Expanded manufacturing capacity and a shift toward domestic production of specialised transmission components are both forecast to provide additional support for the industry. According to the document, bringing high-voltage equipment manufacturing onshore would allow producers to reduce reliance on foreign-sourced parts, tightening their grip on supply chains.

Delayed project awards and execution holdups can shift when revenue lands, while a rise in commodity prices puts pressure on margins — a particular concern for manufacturers whose contract terms leave input-cost risk with them. Fluctuations in export demand and the trajectory of global data centre spending are among the variables that stand to shape results over the coming months.

Three variables identified in the document as shaping how well the sector draws on newly available openings were the pace and scope of grid transmission work, advances in domestic manufacturing capacity, and the continued flow of capital into data centre development.