Three stocks with strong order books to watch amid India's data-centre boom

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. International orders account for 54% of its order backlog. L&T reported record second quarter results, with revenue rising 16% year-on-year to ₹78,700 crore and profit after tax increasing 33% to ₹5,200 crore. Order inflows surged 28% to a quarterly record of ₹1,47,700 crore. Its consolidated order book stood at ₹8,53,500 crore as of 30 September, up 28%.

Management attributed the performance to a "resilient portfolio and disciplined growth", with record order inflows led by Ultra Mega and Mega orders in the energy segment. The company has identified an addressable pipeline of about ₹10 lakh crore in the near term. Data centres, semiconductors and green hydrogen are among the businesses it is positioning as future growth drivers, supported by cash conversion and a prudent balance sheet.

Power Mech Projects operates across four business segments: Industrial Construction, covering engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) and the erection of boiler-turbine-generator systems; Industrial Services, including operations and maintenance; Infrastructure Construction; and Mining Development and Operations (MDO). Its client base includes NTPC, BHEL, the Adani Group, JSW and Vedanta. Revenue has grown at an annual rate of more than 17% to ₹6,060 crore in FY26.

The momentum continued into Q1 FY27, when revenue rose 26% to ₹1,624 crore. The company's order backlog, including MDO, stood at ₹56,650 crore as of 30 September 2026. It reported order inflows of ₹3,113 crore so far in FY27 and has set a target of ₹12,000 crore for the full year. Management expects margins to recover as its MDO business scales up. The company is also shifting towards integrated balance-of-plant (BOP) EPC delivery and higher-margin operations and maintenance work.

Multi-decade mining contracts provide a base of recurring, long-term revenue. Sterlite Technologies (STL) operates across the optical connectivity value chain, from optical fibre and fibre cables to specialty cables and connectivity solutions. It serves data centres and cloud companies, telecommunications operators, citizen networks and large enterprises across more than 100 countries. The company describes itself as India's largest end-to-end optical manufacturer and holds roughly 9% of the global optical fibre cable market outside China.

Its data-centre business is anchored by its Neural portfolio, designed for the AI era. STL's order book stood at ₹35,274 crore as of 30 September 2026, up 4.6 times since the beginning of the year, supported by multi-year agreements with hyperscalers. The company is targeting revenue of ₹20,000 crore by FY29 and has raised its EBITDA margin ambition to more than 30%. Data centres already accounted for 33% of its revenue in the first half of FY27.

The AI and data-centre investment cycle offers opportunities across construction, power and connectivity. But its sustainability depends in part on hyperscalers continuing to commit substantial capital to infrastructure. Spending could moderate if funding costs rise. A large order book can improve revenue visibility, but it does not guarantee execution, profitability or stock-market returns. Investors also need to assess order quality, execution timelines, margins, corporate governance and valuations before making investment decisions. Each company's fundamentals and risks warrant independent scrutiny. This article is syndicated from Equitymaster.com