Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: India is rapidly emerging as a global data centre hub and is projected to see an estimated demand of over 450 megawatt (MW) IT capacity across major cities in 2025, while supply addition is expected to reach 600 MW IT, according to a report on January 24.
Moreover, the data centre market in the country is likely to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21 per cent between 2024 and 2030 to reach 3,400 MW IT by that period, according to Savills India, a leading global real estate advisory firm.
In 2024, India witnessed an absorption of 407 MW IT capacity and the addition of 191 MW IT capacity across key cities.
The demand for data centres in the country continues to rise, driven by factors such as the increasing adoption of cloud computing, the expansion of big data, the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the rapid growth of e-commerce and digital transformation initiatives.
This demand was fuelled by hyperscalers, BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance), IT and ITeS, and service sectors, all of which heavily rely on data centre operators for colocation and related services.
Mumbai led the absorption market with 53 per cent of total absorption, followed by Hyderabad (14 per cent), and Chennai and Pune with 10 per cent each.
According to the report, the country is experiencing a surge in data centre land transactions, driven by growing demand and expansions by data centre operators and hyperscalers acquiring land across key cities.
In 2024, over 200 acres of land were acquired in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai and Bengaluru.
“The increasing penetration of 5G and the rise in mobile application usage are driving demand for edge data centres in Tier-II and Tier-III cities such as Bhubaneswar, Patna, Lucknow, Jaipur, Kochi, Vizag, Coimbatore, Madurai, Raipur, and Hubli,” said Srihari Srinivasan, Director and Lead Data Centre Services, Savills India.
“Meanwhile, dominant tier-I cities continue to grow. By 2030, we expect data centre stock to reach 3,400 MW IT across major cities,” Srinivasan added. Supply and absorption were predominantly concentrated in Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Pune, said the report.
