Aligning with the country’s progressive digital landscape, India’s Data Centre (DC) capacity is expected to cross 1,300 megawatt (MW) by the end of 2024 from the current 880 MW, according to a report by real estate consulting firm CBRE South Asia. 

The Data Cenre (DC) segment growth is likely to continue over 2023-24, with nearly 500 MW currently under construction across several cities. Mumbai, Chennai, and Bangalore will collectively dominate DC stock with an 80 per cent share by the end of 2024. 

continuous uptrend

The Indian DC industry is witnessing a continuous uptrend owing to rapid digitalisation, enhanced tech infrastructure and the inclusion of advanced technologies such as 5G, Artificial Intelligence (AI), blockchain and cloud computing, said the report. 

Anshuman Magazine, Chairman and CEO – India, South-East Asia, Middle East & Africa, CBRE, said, “Increasing population, enhanced use of technology, social media, and online streaming platforms, rising need for data localisation and fast improving digital infrastructure would continue to boost demand for data centres in India. This, in turn, is likely to result in the country becoming one of the largest DC destinations across APAC over the next decade.” 

As per the report, India’s DC capacity has doubled over the last four-five years to reach 880 MW as of June 2023 and is expected to increase further to touch 1,048 MW by the end of 2023. During Jan-Jun 2023, the DC stock in the top seven cities in India stood at 880 MW capacity spanning over 13 million sq. ft. Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, and Delhi-NCR accounted for about 87 per cent of the country’s DC stock as of June 2023. 

occupancy levels

Overall, DC occupancy levels in India stood at about 75 – 80 per cent in Jan-Jun’23, which is likely to improve further by the end of the year. Mumbai continues to be the most prominent DC market in the country, accounting for more than half of the total stock (52 per cent) as of Jun’23.

Further, the country’s growing digital infrastructure, increasing technology penetration, and proactive regulatory push have made it an attractive destination for DC investments. During the 2018 – June’23 period, the DC market in India attracted investment commitments of about USD 35 billion by both global and domestic investors, the report highlighted. 

Hyperscale DCs dominated most of the DC investments with a share of about 89%, while colocation DCs contributed to the rest of 11 per cent. The top states that dominated the cumulative investment commitments include Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh.