India's data centre pipeline hits 8.33 GW as AI demand reshapes digital infra: Knight Frank India
New Delhi, June 20
India's data centre sector is witnessing an unprecedented infrastructure build-up, with the total development pipeline across major markets reaching 8.33 GW, according to Knight Frank India. The scale of future supply, driven by accelerating artificial intelligence adoption, cloud computing growth and data localisation requirements, is more than five times the country's current live data centre capacity of 1.6 GW.
Knight Frank India said India currently has 0.32 GW of data centre capacity under construction, while another 2.92 GW has reached the committed stage. An additional 5.41 GW is in early stages of development, underscoring the depth of supply planned across key hubs. "The significant share of early-stage developments--representing nearly two-thirds of the total pipeline--demonstrates strong confidence in India's long-term digital economy prospects," Knight Frank India noted.
Mumbai continues to dominate the landscape with the largest pipeline at 3.75 GW, comprising 0.17 GW under construction, 1.54 GW in committed projects and 2.21 GW in early-stage development. The city's advantage stems from its status as India's financial capital, extensive fibre connectivity, robust power infrastructure and concentration of international subsea cable landings, making it the preferred location for large-scale cloud and AI deployments.
Hyderabad has emerged as the second-largest future market with a 1.93 GW pipeline, supported by proactive government policies, lower operating costs and growing investments from global technology companies. Chennai's pipeline has reached 1.36 GW, backed by its role as India's key gateway for Southeast Asian digital traffic, strong subsea cable connectivity and competitive power tariffs.
Regional specialisation is becoming a key theme, Knight Frank India said. Viral Desai, International Partner, Senior Executive Director- Occupier Strategy & Solutions, Industrial & Logistics, Capital Markets & Retail, Knight Frank India, said, "India's data centre growth story is increasingly becoming a tale of regional specialization. While Mumbai continues to anchor hyperscale deployments owing to its connectivity advantages, Hyderabad is emerging as a preferred AI infrastructure destination, and Chennai is strengthening its role as a strategic gateway for international data traffic from east. At the same time, Vizag has rapidly emerged as one of India's most active greenfield data centre markets, attracting gigawatt-scale development proposals backed by government support, availability of sizeable land parcels and planned subsea cable connectivity."
NCR, Pune and Bengaluru are also expanding capacity, with pipelines of 0.54 GW, 0.43 GW and 0.18 GW respectively. Knight Frank India expects India's data centre ecosystem to remain one of the fastest-growing globally over the coming decade as global technology companies invest in next-generation computing infrastructure.
— ANI
Reader Comments
As an IT professional working with global clients, this is huge news. Bangalore only having 0.18 GW in pipeline seems low for the city that's India's tech capital. Maybe they're running out of space? Or power issues? The AI boom is real - we're seeing demand explode for compute capacity.
Good to see Hyderabad emerging as #2 with 1.93 GW! Lower operating costs and proactive state policies are attracting global tech companies. But we need to ensure robust power grid and water availability for cooling - these are major concerns in Telangana.
The jump from 1.6 GW live to 8.33 GW pipeline is staggering. Five times growth! But I'm worried about the environmental impact - data centres consume massive amounts of electricity and water. Hope they're planning plenty of renewable energy sources and efficient cooling systems. Also, what about cybersecurity for all these hyperscale facilities?
Vizag as a greenfield data centre market is a pleasant surprise! Gigawatt-scale proposals there show India's digital potential beyond metro cities. This could create thousands of jobs in tier-2 cities and reduce the load on urban centres. Hope the subsea cable plans materialise quickly. 🚀
Interesting to see the regional specialisation emerging - Mumbai for hyperscale, Hyderabad for AI, Chennai for international connectivity. With data localisation laws demanding in-country storage, this capacity build-up is crucial for our digital sovereignty. But execution is key - need to see these projects move from "early stage" to operational.
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