Mumbai: Canada-based Brookfield Infrastructure plans to build a massive data centre in a 30-acre area in Navi Mumbai at a cost of Rs. 600 crores to expand its global data infrastructure portfolio, reports said on Thursday.
Brookfield bought this land parcel from the K Raheja Corporation, which had earlier acquired it in the Ghansoli area of Navi Mumbai from US chemicals company Cabot Corporation in 2015 for Rs 210 crore.
According to reports, Brookfield Infrastructure, a subsidiary of Brookfield, formed a joint venture with the NYSE-listed Digital Realty for setting up and operating data centres in India under the brand BAM Digital Realty.
The JV would expand Brookfield Infrastructure’s global data infrastructure portfolio, including USD 23 billion in assets across data transmission, distribution and storage. The number of its operational telecom services towers in India is expected to increase from 139,000 to 175,000 in the next few months.
The demand for data centres has zoomed with the growing need for digital connectivity to work, learn and play and many global operators have set up JVs in India to set up data centres.
Experts estimate that data centres’ demand in India between 2021 and 2025 will touch over 2,500 Megawatt (MW) with the adoption of 5G, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and increased use of cloud services.
“India is rapidly emerging as a major data centre market and offers a bright future, with accelerating adoption of digital business models among a population that recognises the role of technology for future economic development,” said Digital Realty Chief Executive Officer A William Stein.
Arpit Agrawal, Managing Director and Head of India & Middle East, Brookfield Infrastructure, said through the development of a high-quality, multi-city, India-focused data centre platform, BAM Digital Realty would address the large and growing data demand in the country and offer a differentiated solution to customers.
Early this year, the Adani Group forayed into the data centre business by forming a 50:50 joint venture with the US-based EdgeConneX to build hyperscale data centre parks in six cities. The Hiranandani group is also setting up data centres in the country.
(VP)