India is going to get recognised as running the world’s data centers

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed Indian businesses, both big and small, to use digital platforms and cloud computing to reduce operational expenditure. There has been a shift in the way technology has been built out even in India. There are various initiatives from the Government like Digital India is also driving increased use of data services. Cloud is the biggest enabler of data in today’s world. The upcoming launch of 5G, and Internet of Things use cases, are also driving growth. While the data center industry is currently restricted to big cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Chennai, it is likely to percolate down to tier-2 and tier-3 cities as data consumption increases.

This will also lead to the growth of edge data centers. There are several cases, we see that businesses who have managed to really thrive in the context of the cloud are doing better than others. India is basically running the world’s data centers regardless of where they are. The big tech firms are collaborating with telcos to expand their cloud services presence. Setting up data centers is vital for big technology firms because of the administration's data localization norms. This is one of the biggest reasons for the surge in the number of data centers.

Mumbai, which accounts for 45% of the total capacity, is expected to further add 267 MW between now and 2023, as per the survey of JLL. Demand was expanding due to increasing digital usage emerging from distributed workforce, growing data security concerns and business disruptions. Banking and financial services are adopting hybrid options to meet digital growth. Home-grown video and gaming platforms in midst of robust user growth are also fuelling the data center industry demand.

There are various investment commitments to the tune of $3 billion highlighting the growth potential, with the data center industry expected to double its capacity and cross the 1GW mark by 2023. Data-centre operators are adopting large land acquisition strategies to fulfil the long-term requirements of hyperscalers. Google is investing heavily into data centres, with a second cluster of data centers in the National Capital Region (NCR), after it established its first cluster in Mumbai.

It's been reported that CtrlS, a prominent data center firm, plans to double capacity, while NTT and Tokyo Century have also collaborated to set up more. Digital Realty and Brookfield Infrastructure also announced an agreement to set up a 50-50 joint venture focused on development, ownership and operation of institutional-quality data centers in India. At the same time,

Deepak Sahu, President & CEO, VARINDIA