|
India's data centre sector is set for a major capacity expansion, with 3,860 MW of new capacity expected to come up by 2030, including 509 MW already under construction and 3,351 MW in the planning stage, according to a report by Cushman & Wakefield.
The expansion is expected to require USD 29.9 billion in development capital through 2030, placing India among the major data centre investment markets in the Asia Pacific region, the report said. India's operational data centre capacity stood at 1,789 MW as of H1 2026, up from around 400 MW in 2019. The country's top seven markets added 178 MW of capacity during the first half of 2026, while colocation vacancy stood at 14.9%. Mumbai remains the country's largest data centre market, accounting for 50% of operational capacity at 890 MW. It also has the largest upcoming pipeline at around 1.7 GW as of H1 2026, with the city expected to cross 1 GW of operational capacity by end-2026, the report said. However, capacity expansion is increasingly spreading across other major hubs. Hyderabad has 151 MW of operational capacity and 710 MW of upcoming supply, while Chennai has 214 MW operational capacity and 368 MW of upcoming supply. Delhi NCR has 183 MW operational capacity and 387 MW of future supply. The report said India's relatively low data centre penetration, growing enterprise use of artificial intelligence and increasing hyperscaler activity leave significant room for future expansion. It also noted that AI-focused infrastructure is driving demand for facilities with higher rack densities. Cushman & Wakefield Executive Managing Director Gautam Saraf said, With nearly 3.9 GW of additional capacity expected across the country's leading markets by 2030, this deeper ecosystem will be critical in supporting the next phase of cloud adoption, AI deployment and data-driven growth across the economy. At the Asia Pacific level, data centre capacity is projected to increase 2.7 times by 2030, requiring more than USD 280 billion in capital expenditure. India is expected to account for nearly USD 29.9 billion of this development investment, the report said. The report also flagged sustainability as an increasing planning priority, as the rapid expansion of AI workloads is expected to raise data centre energy demand and resource requirements. (ANI)
|
