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Business Standard

Nxtra Data plans ₹6,000 crore war chest to chase data centre growth

Nxtra Data, Bharti Airtel's data centre arm, is likely to invest ₹4,500–6,000 crore over the next three to four years as it looks to take a leadership position in India's data centre market. The Airtel subsidiary is looking to increase the number of data centres it currently operates while aiming to double its capacity, said senior executives aware of the company's plans. 'The intention is to be No. 1 or No. 2, which means more investments and buying more land. Another 70–80 megawatt (Mw) will come up in the next three to four years, almost doubling the capacity from the current 80–100 Mw,' said a senior industry executive. 'The capital investment will not be a constraint. It's been at the level of ₹1,400–1,500 crore per year, and if more than 30–35 per cent market share needs to be taken, then it would mean investing much more over the next three to four years,' the executive added. Another source familiar with the company's plans said Nxtra by Airtel is already scouting for land in Mumbai, India's data centre capital, where its new data centres are likely to come up. 'Many of the hyperscalers are looking for large facilities for artificial intelligence (AI), so that's also one of the reasons behind this aggressive push. But land pricing will be the key factor here,' the second executive said. Airtel had not responded to queries from Business Standard as of press time Tuesday. At present, Nxtra operates 14 large data centres in key metros and over 120 edge data centres across 65 cities in the country. The company aims to expand both categories, with a stronger focus on large data centres. In its annual report for 2024–25, the company said it will invest ₹5,000 crore to increase capacity to 400 Mw in its data centre business. Nxtra operates in a fragmented yet competitive space, where global majors like Japan's NTT, Singapore's ST Telemedia, and Indian firms such as CtrlS, Sify Technologies, and NTT-Netmagic have a strong presence. However, sector experts note that demand for data centres is expected to rise sharply — to nearly 2 gigawatt (Gw) from current levels of 1.2 Gw — providing ample room for players to grow. According to Colliers, data centre capacity has grown more than fourfold over the past six to seven years to 1,263 Mw, covering 16 million square feet of real estate space as of April 2025. This growth has been driven by surging demand for digital Cloud services, rising adoption of AI and the Internet of Things, higher internet penetration, and supportive government policies. By 2030, data centre capacity across the top seven cities is expected to cross 4,500 Mw and attract investments of nearly $20–25 billion, driven by global connectivity via submarine cables, the availability of land and power at comparatively lower costs, and favourable government policies. New players like Singapore-based CapitaLand are also looking to tap into the expected growth. Nxtra and other players are expected to target key data centre markets led by Mumbai, which currently accounts for 41 per cent of the total capacity, followed by Chennai and the Delhi–National Capital Region at 23 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively. With states actively rolling out data centre policies — especially after the sector was granted infrastructure status in the 2022 Union Budget — new corridors like Hyderabad and Kolkata are also emerging as expansion options. The market's growth has opened the door to several real estate players, such as Delhi-based Anant Raj and Mumbai-based Rustomjee group, which are investing in building data centres. Typically, a data centre takes 25–30 months to set up.