India Emerges as Data Centre Powerhouse with 1.5 GW Stock: Report

India's data centre market is now the fastest-growing in the APAC region, with its stock surpassing 1.5 GW. A CBRE report highlights low construction costs, strong policy support, and expanding subsea cable infrastructure as key growth drivers.

India's data centre (DC) industry is witnessing unprecedented momentum, emerging as one of the fastest-growing digital infrastructure markets in the Asia-Pacific region.

According to the latest CBRE Research report, India's DC stock surpassed 1.5 GW by Q3 2025, marking a 30 per cent year-on-year growth and cementing the country's position as a regional powerhouse.

Key Factors Driving India's Rise

The report highlights that India has rapidly climbed the global DC rankings, supported by competitive construction costs, favourable policy incentives, and its expanding digital ecosystem. The country now stands out in the APAC region with construction costs ranging between USD 6.8-7.25 million per MW, considerably lower than markets such as Japan and Singapore.

Strategic Connectivity and Subsea Infrastructure

India's rise is strongly aided by subsea cable infrastructure. Over half of all subsea cables landing in India converge in Mumbai and Chennai, offering global-grade connectivity, enhanced redundancy, and strategic access to the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Europe. India has 12 new subsea cable projects underway, expected between 2025 and 2028, which will greatly strengthen its digital backbone.

Major Data Centre Hubs and Emerging Markets

Mumbai remains the country's largest DC market with over 56 GW installed capacity and strong hyperscaler-driven demand. Chennai, Bengaluru, and Delhi-NCR continue to show robust growth due to cloud services, government demand, and telecom expansion. Hyderabad, Pune, and Kolkata are emerging as promising Tier-II hubs, each witnessing 15-26 per cent CAGR through 2025.

AI and Cloud Computing to Fuel Future Growth

CBRE projects that AI, cloud computing, big data, IoT, and digital transformation will be the principal growth engines of India's DC market. AI workloads and GPU demand are expected to surge, with India's DC GPU market forecast to grow at 36 per cent CAGR through 2030.

Cloud adoption in India is rising faster than APAC peers, driven by over 800 active global capability centres (GCCs) and expanding enterprise digitalisation. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act (2023) continues to push enterprises toward local data storage and processing.

Strong Investment Momentum

The country has seen over USD 30 billion in cumulative DC investments by Q3 2025, with strong participation from global investors, private equity firms, and hyper-scale cloud operators. The highest investment traction has been recorded in states of Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.

Sustainability at the Core of New Data Centres

The report notes that India's next generation of DCs is being built with sustainability at its core. Operators are adopting renewable energy sources, water-efficient cooling, circular resource management, and green procurement standards. The government's push toward energy-efficient DCs is accelerating the adoption of solar, wind, and hybrid power models in new facilities.

Future Outlook: A Global Leader in the Making

With India's digital population rising, OTT consumption booming, and AI workloads multiplying, the country is projected to attract even larger investments between 2026 and 2030. CBRE expects India to remain a priority destination for global hyper-scalers, cloud providers, and GPU-intensive AI operators.

The report highlighted that India's strong fundamentals, affordable costs, and large-scale connectivity infrastructure position it to become a global leader in data centre capacity over the next decade. (ANI)

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