Where India’s data centre industry will witness massive growth
India’s data centre industry is growing, driven by enterprises’ race for digital transformation and the government’s digital initiatives. Computing capacity could cross the 1GW mark by 2023, double the 499MW identified in the first half of 2021 by a recent report from Nxtra by Airtel and Jones Lang LaSalle. Other factors contributing to the growth of the industry in India include demand for data storage, privacy regulations, and operators wanting to serve other markets from India.
The telecom industry in India is making rapid progress towards the launch of 5G technology, with three operators already starting field trials, and when their 5G networks go live demand for data—and the data centres that provide it—will increase. In addition, India is expected to become a global data centre hub due to its natural resources, strategic location close to Asia-Pacific markets, competitive costs, skilled IT staff, and large domestic market.
Preferred Indian cities for data centres
Mumbai is data centre providers’ first choice because of its central location and role as a hub for the banking, financial services, and insurance industries. It has reliable power, has few natural hazards, and is close to landing stations for the submarine cables connecting India to the rest of the world. The region accounts for 45% of the 499MW inventory.
Chennai is emerging as a an alternative exchange hub for data centres in APAC. The presence of global banking, financial services, and insurance companies, a strong manufacturing base, and lower setup costs make Chennai the second choice for data centre operators. Chennai is also an integral part of the global submarine cable infrastructure, so global enterprises looking for an alternative location for their critical infrastructure or disaster-recovery sites in Asia-Pacific are considering Chennai. The city has skilled IT and non-IT resources and has the highest internet speed among cities in India.