Industrial Automation Magazine India

BAM Digital Realty expands data centre footprint in India

Published on : Wednesday 14-06-2023

BAM Digital Realtys new site was selected for its proximity to customers and central location in metro Mumbai.

Mumbai, India – June 13, 2023: BAM Digital Realty, a joint venture between Brookfield Infrastructure and Digital Realty, has announced the acquisition of 2.15 acres of land in Chandivali, Mumbai, to build a new state-of-the-art data centre, its second in India. With a total expected investment of more than INR 2000 crore (~$250m USD), the facility will deliver 35 megawatts (MW) of IT load upon completion, bringing the companys total planned capacity in India to 135 megawatts (MW).

BAM Digital Realtys new site was selected for its proximity to customers and central location in metro Mumbai, essential characteristics of a well-connected facility capable of supporting the growing demand for critical digital infrastructure in this region.

This strategic investment in Mumbai builds upon BAM Digital Realtys initial foray into the India market. The companys first 20 MW greenfield data centre (MAA10), on a 100 MW campus in Chennai, is on track for launch at the end of 2023. Together, the two state-of-the-art data centres in Mumbai and Chennai will deliver rich ecosystem access to both west- and east-bound customers, leveraging Digital Realtys global data centre platform, PlatformDIGITAL®.

As India vies to become the worlds third largest economy by 2027, digitalization has accelerated. This has led to exponential data growth and in turn is driving significant demand for data centre capacity in India, which is expected to reach an installed capacity of ~1,400 MW by the end of 2025. As Indias financial capital and largest city, Mumbai hosts the countrys principal enterprises across the banking, financial services, digital media and other industries, and drives demand for ~43% of the total data centre capacity in India.

Mumbai is Indias primary connectivity hub and leading international internet gateway, hosting the highest number of subsea cables landing in India. It also offers robust power infrastructure and dense fiber connectivity, critical for the high-power compute workloads that support new technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI).

Benefitting from the world-class data centre platform expertise of Digital Realty and the unrivalled renewable energy footprint of Brookfield, BAM Digital Realty is well-positioned to deliver sustainable digital infrastructure solutions to meet growing customer demand in India.

Arpit Agrawal, Managing Director, Head of Infrastructure, India & Middle East, Brookfield Infrastructure Group: Mumbai continues to be a prominent data centre hub reinforced by the ongoing rapid expansion of the Indian data centre industry that is fueling the countrys significant digital transformation. As we expand our presence in India and enter the Mumbai market, we are strengthening our mission to offer the highest level of innovation and expertise to our local and global customers.

Serene Nah, Managing Director and Head of Asia Pacific, Digital Realty: We are excited to intensify our momentum in India by expanding our footprint into Mumbai. The choice of the strategic location in Chandivali gives local and global customers convenient access to a well-connected facility in the heart of Mumbai. This adds a significant new metro to Digital Realtys safe and open global data meeting place, enabling customers to expand and grow their businesses in key markets around the world.