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India's data centre industry is witnessing its fastest phase of expansion, with capacity additions in the past year alone outpacing those made in the previous three years combined, a report by Rubix stated. India added 387 MW of IT capacity in 2025, more than double the 191 MW added in 2024, registering a 103 per cent year-on-year increase.
According to the report, India had 271 data centres as of January 2026, with Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi NCR, Bengaluru and Chennai accounting for nearly 65 per cent of the total. It said cloud adoption, AI readiness and digital drivers such as 5G, e-commerce, UPI and OTT platforms are expected to continue supporting demand for data centres in the coming years. The report estimated the current investment pipeline, comprising announced and under-development projects, at around USD 90 billion, nearly six times the USD 13-15 billion invested between 2020 and 2024. Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and Google together account for commitments worth about USD 67.5 billion in India, it added. Commenting on the findings, Tushar Bhaskar, President, Rubix Data Sciences, said India's data centre industry has moved beyond its early growth stage and is now in a major AI-driven investment phase, with planned investments far exceeding past levels. "As demand from hyperscalers, AI workloads, and digital enterprises accelerates, the next test for the industry will be execution. Long-term leadership in this sector will depend on how effectively stakeholders address structural constraints around power, water, and sustainability, while building resilient, energy-efficient, and AI-ready infrastructure," Bhaskar noted. The report also highlighted the challenges accompanying the sector's rapid expansion. It estimated annual water consumption by data centres to increase from around 150 billion litres currently to nearly 359 billion litres by 2030, while electricity demand is expected to rise significantly over the next few years. Despite generating nearly 20 per cent of the world's data, India currently accounts for only around 3-4 per cent of global data centre capacity, leaving significant room for expansion. The report said continued hyperscale investments, supportive government policies and an expanding renewable energy base are expected to strengthen India's position as a leading hub for hyperscale and colocation data centre development. (ANI)
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