India's data centre sector is experiencing unprecedented investment momentum with Anant Raj Limited announcing a ₹20,000 crore investment in Haryana for data centre development. This significant project aligns with Haryana's 'Make in Haryana' policy and will boost digital infrastructure while creating substantial employment opportunities. Additionally, AirTrunk, backed by Blackstone, has committed to invest over $30 billion (more than ₹3,000 billion) in a new data centre in Maharashtra's Raigad Penn Growth Centre, featuring a massive 5 GW capacity. According to The Economic Times, this facility represents one of the largest data centre investments in India's recent history. The proposed investment program, which is backed by Blackstone and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), ranks among the largest digital infrastructure initiatives currently under consideration in the country. Prime Minister Modi announced that AirTrunk's planned investment of around ₹3 lakh crore ($30 billion) will significantly strengthen India's position as a global hub for cloud computing and artificial intelligence, as reported by DD News.
According to reports from Nomura, India's data centre industry is positioned for explosive growth with a 30% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2030. The investment bank has characterized this as a 'decadal growth opportunity' for India, with total capacity potentially reaching 7 gigawatts from the current 1.6 gigawatts. Nomura estimates that incremental capacity additions of roughly 5.1 gigawatts through 2030 will require capital expenditure of over $35 billion, with the bulk of spending flowing to industrial equipment manufacturers supplying electrical systems, cooling infrastructure and rack hardware. Nomura notes that India's digital, cloud and GenAI adoption is driving data centre demand, with robust demand and sustainable premium pricing trends unlocking attractive opportunities for industrial equipment manufacturers.
India's data centre sector is entering a new phase as AI adoption, cloud demand, and digital infrastructure investments fuel a $100 billion boom. According to Knight Frank, India's live data centre capacity reached 1,608.8MW in 2025, up sharply from 296MW in 2016, with cumulative colocation leasing crossing 2.06GW during the year. AI is emerging as a major contributor with AI-related colocation leasing reaching 348MW in 2025, more than doubling from the previous year. As per KPMG, the industry's biggest challenge is no longer demand generation but the ability to build, deploy, and operate increasingly complex infrastructure at scale. The reports suggest that future investment decisions will increasingly be influenced by a facility's ability to support AI workloads rather than conventional storage requirements alone.
As reported by Nomura, the investment bank has identified CG Power and GE Vernoba T&D India as their top picks to benefit from the capex surge. The firm has set target prices of ₹1,050 for CG Power and ₹5,675 for GE Vernoba T&D India. Nomura has a 'buy' recommendation on GE Vernova and CG Power, a 'reduce' rating on ABB India and a 'neutral' rating on Siemens and Cummins India. The firm has identified five product categories within the data centre space: medium and low-voltage switchgear and transformers, UPS and battery systems, backup diesel and gas gensets, and precision cooling and liquid-cooling distribution units. According to Nomura, rack, busway and structured cabling infrastructure together absorb 60-75% of a data centre's $10-20 million/MW capex budget. Both companies are positioned to benefit from India's cost advantages, with construction costs running at approximately $6-7 million per megawatt compared to $10-18 million in developed Asia-Pacific and Western markets.
India's data centre growth is becoming increasingly regionalized with Mumbai continuing to dominate with 47% of total live capacity at 766.6MW, while Chennai's capacity increased to 191.5MW from 73.2MW and Hyderabad rose to 151.4MW from 60.9MW between 2022-2025. According to Knight Frank, emerging destinations include Visakhapatnam with AdaniConneX and Google's gigawatt-scale AI data centre campus, and Jamnagar with Reliance Industries' proposed 3GW AI-focused facility. However, both reports highlight significant operational challenges, with KPMG noting that execution capability has become the defining challenge as facilities grow more complex. Power availability remains a critical constraint, with only 8,830 circuit kilometres commissioned in FY25 against a target of 15,253 circuit kilometres. The sector faces mounting pressure to balance growth ambitions with sustainability requirements while maintaining operational efficiency in an increasingly AI-driven environment.
