Bharti Airtel on Monday announced a $1 billion investment in its data centre subsidiary Nxtra Data Limited, led by Alpha Wave Global, along with existing investors Carlyle and Anchorage Capital. Airtel will also participate in the funding round.
The transaction values Nxtra at around $3.1 billion post-closing and remains subject to regulatory approvals in India.
Alpha Wave Global will invest $435 million, Carlyle $240 million, and Anchorage Capital $35 million, with the remaining capital coming from Airtel.
Airtel will retain a controlling stake in Nxtra.
The proceeds will be used to expand Nxtra’s data centre network across India and support growing demand for AI and cloud infrastructure. The company plans to scale capacity from about 300 MW to 1 GW in the coming years.
India’s data centre market is projected to grow at a CAGR of about 21% between 2024 and 2030, reaching nearly 3,400 MW of IT capacity, according to Savills India.
“At Nxtra, we have built one of India’s most advanced and sustainable data centre networks, designed to meet the evolving needs of enterprises, hyperscalers, and government,” said Gopal Vittal, Executive Vice Chairman, Airtel.
“With ~300 MW capacity today, we aim to scale to 1 GW in the next few years, targeting ~25% market share,” he added.
Nxtra uses AI for predictive maintenance, energy efficiency, and automated operations. The company operates 14 core data centres and over 120 edge facilities across India, offering services including colocation, cloud infrastructure, and disaster recovery.
“We have built a strong partnership with Airtel and continue to believe Nxtra is well-positioned to benefit from India’s long-term digital infrastructure tailwinds,” said Kapil Modi, Partner at Carlyle India Advisors.
Rick Gerson, Co-Founder & CIO, Alpha Wave Global, said the firm focuses on AI-first businesses and sees Nxtra as part of India’s expanding digital infrastructure.
Navroz D Udwadia, Co-Founder, Alpha Wave Global, said rising usage of AI platforms such as ChatGPT and Claude is expected to drive demand for data centre capacity in India.
Nxtra is also developing AI-ready campuses in Chennai, Mumbai, and Kolkata, and has partnered with Google to build a gigawatt-scale AI data centre campus backed by a $15 billion investment.
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