In recent months, several companies, including AdaniConnex, Reliance, Sify, Atlassian, Yotta, and AWS, have announced substantial investments in data centres across India. AWS alone plans to invest $12.7 billion to expand its data centres in the country. 

In addition, Kotak Alternate Assets intends to invest $800 million to support the development of 5-7 large data centres in key property markets in India. The surge in data centre investments is driven by the demand for data localisation and cost efficiency, influenced by India’s data protection norms and proposed data centre policy, attracting major global players.

With the growth of India’s data centre market, the capacity is projected to surpass ~1,300 MW by the end of 2024, a notable increase from ~1,048 MW at the end of 2023 and ~880 MW as of June 2023. The concentration of data centres remains prominent in seven cities, including Mumbai-Navi Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, and Kolkata. 

These cities accounted for a 35% year-on-year growth, reaching ~884 MW capacity and spanning over 13 million sqft by the end of 2023. Mumbai-Navi Mumbai leads with a 52% share of the total data centre capacity, followed by Chennai (16%), Delhi-NCR (11%), Bengaluru (9%), Pune (7%), Hyderabad (4%), and Kolkata (1%).

Despite the concentration in the top four locations, the emergence of co-location and edge computing facilities is expected to shift the dynamics, with edge data centres expanding into Tier 2 cities in 2024. 

Overall, data centre occupancy levels in India stood at about 75-80% in 2023, likely to see further improvement by the end of 2024.

Here are some upcoming noteworthy data centre projects in 2024 and beyond to watch out for:

Yotta

Hiranandani Group-backed Yotta Data Services is expanding its operations in Greater Noida and Guwahati, addressing the growing demand for edge facilities in Tier 2 markets. These planned operations are slated to be completed and operationalised by the end of 2024. 

Yotta-D1, the company’s existing data centre, is 85% full, prompting plans for construction on its D2 and D3 facilities. After placing an order of over 16,000 NVIDIA H100 GPUs, Yotta has also announced a collaboration with NVIDIA to build an AI data centre in GIFT City, Gujarat, to meet the demand for AI-driven data.

CtrlS Datacenters

CtrlS, a Hyderabad-based pioneer of Tier 4 data centres in India, operates 15 data centres across eight key markets and is set to build over 600 MW of data centre capacity by 2029. This expansion involves an additional 5 million sq ft, making CtrlS a major player in the global Rated-4 data centre landscape. 

With projects underway in Navi Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai, CtrlS is also venturing into Tier 2 cities, investing Rs 250 crore in a greenfield Edge data centre in Uttarakhand. The proposed data centre will support co-location, managed, and cloud services.

A few days ago, CtrlS Datacenters also announced the commencement of the construction of a new data centre campus in Chennai, with a significant investment of Rs 4000 crore ($482.5 million). The 72MW project in the Ambattur industrial area spans 1 million sq ft across two buildings and includes an on-site substation. 

The first building, Chennai DC 1, is fully booked and scheduled to begin operations in Q2 2024. As part of its expansion plans, CtrlS announced a $2 billion investment in October 2023 to add 350MW of AI and cloud-ready hyperscale data centres across Asia and the Middle East. 

Digital Connexion

Digital Connexion, a joint venture involving Reliance Industries, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, and Digital Realty Trust, launched its flagship 20 MW greenfield data centre, MAA10, in Chennai in January 2024. This marks the beginning of a potential 100 MW campus. 

The initial phase, MAA10, provides 20MW of IT load with modular infrastructure design for scalable response to varied workload demands. The venture expanded its presence by acquiring 2.15 acres of land in Mumbai to construct a 40 MW data centre. 

Located in a vital industrial hub, the facility supports emerging technologies like AI and large language models and offers ultrahigh-power densities.

Sify

Chennai-based Sify has raised funds for new data centres in 2024 as part of its overall investment of Rs 9,000 crore in the next 5-6 years on greenfield data centre projects. Teaming up with Kotak Data Centre Fund, the company is investing up to $73 million in its subsidiary, Sify Infiniti Spaces, which will operate these planned data centres. 

With projects in Chennai, Mumbai, Noida, and Bengaluru set to commence early in 2024, Sify aims to add 350 MW to its current data centre capacity of 100 MW through 11 facilities across India.

STT GDC India

Singapore-based ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC India) prioritises sustainability and has partnered with O2 Power to procure renewable energy for its Bengaluru facility. 

In 2024, STT GDC India is set to invest around Rs 2,000 crore to develop two new data centres in its existing campus in Pune’s Dighi, surpassing 80 MW of IT load capacity. This makes STT Global Data Centres’ Pune campus one of the largest data centre campuses in India, with an existing capacity of 40 MW spanning three operational facilities.

Atlassian 

The Sydney-headquartered software company Atlassian plans to invest in establishing data centres in India in the first half of 2024. The move aims to comply with data residency requirements, and Atlassian will collaborate with Amazon to bring its products to these Indian data centres. 

Co-founder and co-CEO Scott Farquhar expressed confidence in India’s growing economy and talent landscape, highlighting the belief in the market’s potential for growth. Atlassian, listed on NASDAQ, provides global team collaboration and productivity software with over 250,000 customers. In India, notable clients include Ola Cabs, Reliance, Walmart Labs, and Flipkart.

Farquhar emphasised the resilience of India’s market amid global downturns and sees it as a growth market. Atlassian initiated its presence in India in 2018 with 60 employees and has since grown to 1,700 employees, making India its fastest-growing employee location. 

CapitaLand India

CapitaLand India Trust (CLINT), previously known as Ascendas India Trust, has secured a loan of $155.9 million from J.P. Morgan India for its Navi Mumbai data centre. The Airoli campus in Navi Mumbai, spread across 6.6 acres, is set to comprise two buildings. 

The first building, spanning 325,000 sq ft, is scheduled to be operational by Q2 of 2024, with full build-up capacity reaching 575,000 sq ft and 90 MW. CLINT is also planning data centres in Ambattur, Chennai, and Hyderabad, targeting global technology companies and cloud service providers.

Equinix

The company has two new carrier and service-neutral data centres named MB1 and MB2 in Mumbai, hosting clients including Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, and Oracle Cloud. With a $42 million investment in another new data centre, MB4 in Kalwa, set to launch before March 2024, Equinix continues strengthening its presence in India.

Equinix – a global player operating 250 data centres worldwide, entered the Indian market by acquiring GPX Global Systems. In 2023, Equinix launched full-fledged services in India, offering advanced solutions such as Equinix Fabric, Equinix Internet Exchange, and Equinix Internet Access.

AdaniConnex

AdaniConnex, a joint venture between Adani Enterprises and EdgeConnex Inc, has made substantial investments totalling $1.5 billion. Currently in the process of securing an additional $400 million offshore loan, the venture aims to establish data centres in key locations such as Visakhapatnam, New Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai. 

Details regarding the two data centres in Andhra Pradesh with an aggregate investment of ₹21,844 crore, located at Madhurawada and Kapuluppada near Visakhapatnam were released during May in 2023.

This initiative is part of a broader plan to construct nine data centres with a targeted total capacity of 1 GW by 2030. The JV has already secured a $213 million loan for the Chennai 1 campus and the 50 MW Noida campus in 2023.

Google

Google, with existing operations in two Indian GCP cloud regions in Mumbai and Delhi, is progressing with the development of an 8-storey, 381,000 sq ft data centre in Navi Mumbai. In partnership with Raiden Infotech, this project is expected to be completed by 2025 and will complement Google’s existing operations. 

Additionally, Google leased a 464,000-square-foot facility at the Adani Centre in Noida, showcasing its commitment to expanding its cloud infrastructure in India, one of its significant growth markets.

Amazon Web Services

AWS is set to establish four smaller data centres in India within the next two years, strategically located in Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, and Kolkata. Additionally, AWS plans to launch 32 local zones across 26 countries in the same timeframe to enhance networking speed and security. 

The regional hubs will offer cloud services, catering to various use cases such as video streaming, gaming, and applications requiring real-time feedback. These regional zones will serve as the foundation for AWS regions, enabling the proximity of computing, storage, database, and other services to users and businesses for improved performance and efficiency.