India's Data Center Boom: $25 Billion Investment Surge to Power AI and Cloud Computing by 2030

India's data centre capacity set to surpass 4,500 MW by 2030, backed by $25 bn investments

India's data center market is undergoing rapid expansion, driven by hyperscale demand and technological advancements. Mumbai and Chennai lead in capacity, with significant growth expected in Hyderabad and Pune. Investments are surging, with a focus on large-scale, green-certified facilities to support AI, cloud computing, and the digital economy.India's data centre market has entered a transformative phase, with hyperscale expansion across metros and Tier II/III cities alike. Mumbai and Chennai remain the dominant hubs, jointly accounting for nearly two-thirds of total capacity. Mumbai leads with 41%, followed by Chennai at 23% and Delhi NCR at 14%. Together, the 7 major cities have driven a 3X increase in the DC real estate footprint over the last 6-7 years. The Colliers report titled "The Digital Backbone: Data Centre Growth Prospects in India" forecasts that DC capacity will exceed 4,500 MW by 2030, propelled by demand from cloud players, AI workloads, and edge computing. This expansion will increase the sector's physical footprint to approximately 55 million sq ft. "India's strategic advantages such as availability of land parcels, power supply for usage and availability of skilled talent, reinforces its position as one of the preferred destinations for data centers in the APAC region. Interestingly, the market is expanding beyond large-scale colocation facilities and hyperscalers to edge data centers driven by increasing need for lower latency, real-time analysis, enhanced app performance, and business agility" said Jatin Shah, Chief Operating Officer, Colliers India. India has seen 859 MW of new DC supply between 2020 and April 2025, with Mumbai alone accounting for 44% of this growth. Chennai and Delhi NCR followed, contributing another 42% collectively. Looking ahead, from 2025 to 2030, primary DC markets are expected to see between 3,000-3,700 MW in fresh capacity. Mumbai and Hyderabad are each projected to add 1,000-1,200 MW, making Hyderabad an emerging hub alongside traditional markets. Pune and Chennai are also poised for rapid growth with 300-350 MW and 400-450 MW respectively. Several large-scale data centre announcements underscore the growing investor confidence in India's digital infrastructure. Around $14.7 billion has already been invested in the sector since 2020, with another $ 20-25 billion expected to flow in by 2030. Some of the large investments includes, AdaniConneX is developing a 100 MW campus in Chennai and a 50 MW facility in Noida, with further expansions planned across Tier II cities. This was followed by Yotta Infrastructure has committed over ₹39,000 crore towards hyperscale campuses, including the operational Yotta D1 in Greater Noida. Additionally, CapitaLand Investment announced in April 2025 its second Navi Mumbai data centre with a ₹1,940 crore investment and STT GDC India and NTT Global are building new hyperscale facilities in Chennai, Pune, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. The trend toward large hyperscale facilities is also accelerating. Data centres exceeding 20 MW accounted for 56% of the capacity in April 2025, up from 42% in 2020. By 2030, DCs above 50 MW are projected to form nearly two-thirds of total inventory. Mumbai continues to lead in the 21-50 MW category, while Chennai dominated the over 50 MW completions in recent years. This shift reflects growing demand for high-density racks and AI-ready infrastructure. Green-certified data centres currently comprise about 25% of the market, and this is expected to increase to 30-40% by 2030. Developers are prioritising energy-efficient cooling, renewable energy integration, and sustainable construction. "India's DC market is maturing quickly, driven by strong demand and policy support. With rising adoption of AI and high-performance computing, demand for high-density infrastructure will grow rapidly. Sustainability will also be a key theme as operators embrace green building practices," said Vimal Nadar, National Director & Head of Research, Colliers India. As India positions itself as a leading data infrastructure hub in the APAC region, the country's data centre sector is set to be the backbone of its digital economy -- attracting global capital, enabling cloud transformation, and powering the next wave of innovation.

India's Data Centre Industry Poised for USD 25 Billion Investment Surge by 2030: Colliers

Real estate footprint projected to rise from 15.9 million sq ft to 55 million sq ft. India's data centre (DC) industry is likely to attract USD 20-25 billion in investments over the next five to six years, on rising demand for cloud computation and AI, according to Colliers. In its latest report, "The Digital Backbone: Data Center Growth Prospects in India", dated May 28, 2025, real estate consultant Colliers India mentioned that India's data centre capacity stands at 1,263 MW as of April 2025 across seven major cities, and the capacity is likely to cross 4,500 MW by 2030. Also Read: India Emerges as Hyperscaler Hotspot with Rapid Data Centre Expansion "This growth is driven by the surge in demand for digital and cloud services, increasing adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT), and higher internet penetration, supported by favorable government policies," it said. The existing data centre real estate footprint stands at 15.9 million sq ft, and this is expected to rise significantly, reaching about 55 million sq ft by 2030. Additionally, major DC operators are planning to expand their presence and are committing long-term investments across multiple Tier 2/3 cities. "The scale-up in the Indian DC industry has been accompanied by equally impressive investments in the last 5-6 years. The industry has already seen investments to the tune of USD 14.7 billion since the beginning of 2020. These investments have been largely focused on land acquisition, project construction and development, etc," the consultant said. "In the next 5-6 years, amidst massive adoption of cloud computation and AI in India, DCs (data centres) are likely to attract investments to the tune of USD 20-25 billion," it added. Also Read: TEECL Launches USD 1 Billion Digital Infra Arm, Partners with RailTel to Develop 102 Edge Data Centers Data pertains to co-location data centres in the top 7 cities - Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune. Data centre capacity represents total IT load capacity, including occupied as well as unoccupied space. "India is becoming a global DC hotspot, fuelled by rapid digitalisation, data localisation norms and strong government support. As this growth trajectory continues, India's DC capacity is likely to cross 4,500 MW in the next 5-6 years, translating into a real estate footprint of 55 million sq ft," said Jatin Shah, Chief Operating Officer, Colliers India. India's strategic advantages, such as availability of land parcels, power supply for usage and availability of skilled talent, reinforce its position as one of the preferred destinations for data centres in the APAC region, he said. "Interestingly, the market is expanding beyond large-scale colocation facilities and hyperscalers to edge data centres driven by increasing need for lower latency, real-time analysis, enhanced app performance, and business agility," Shah added. India has witnessed 859 MW of capacity addition across the top seven primary DC markets since the beginning of 2020. While Mumbai will continue to dominate the overall DC market, relatively smaller growth markets such as Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Pune are likely to see multifold growth in inventory levels. Hyderabad, specifically, is likely to see significant traction and emerge as a major hub, in addition to cities such as Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi NCR, the report said. Also Read: India's AI Surge May Require 50 Million Sq Ft More Real Estate for Data Centres by 2030: Deloitte "DC investments of about USD 20-25 billion are likely to materialize over the course of the next 5-6 years. Operators and developers will increasingly seek land-banking strategies and expand into growing markets with high data consumption levels," said Vimal Nadar, National Director and Head of Research, Colliers India.