Bengaluru, Aug 24 (Representative) India’s data center industry is expected to double capacity by 2023, JLL Tuesday said. “The capacity will exceed 1GW by 2023, driven by strong digitalisation, rising cloud adoption and ambitious growth plans of data center operators,” JLL’s H1 2021 India Data Center Market Update report said. Nationwide, the acceleration of digitalisation has forced enterprises to scale up their IT infrastructure, as a result a strong demand for colocation/cloud facilities has been witnessed across India.
Additionally, investors and global data center players have increased their commitment during the last six months in the India market by announcing joint ventures to meet expected demand. “The demand momentum which picked up pace in 2020, continues to grow unabated … Demand has been expanding rapidly due to increasing digital usage emerging from distributed workforce, growing data security concerns and business disruptions. Banking and financial services are adopting hybrid options to meet digital growth,” JLL’s Data Centre Advisory (India) Rachit Mohan said. “Home-grown video and gaming platforms in midst of robust user growth are also fuelling the data center industry demand.
Furthermore, telecom players are formulating the roll out of 5G which is expected to drive exponential growth in data consumption,” he added. JLL’s Chief Economist Dr Samantak Das said the global investors and data center players, have increased their commitment during the last six months.”Investment commitments to the tune of USD 3 billion highlight the growth potential, with the data center industry expected to double its capacity and cross the 1GW mark by 2023,” he said. Mumbai, which currently accounts for 45 per cent of the total capacity is expected to further add 267MW between now and 2023, he added.
Data center operators are adopting large land acquisition strategies to fulfil the long-term requirements of hyperscalers. These operators would provide occupiers with flexibility in terms of availability zones, fiber pathways and power provisions required for large scale expansions in less time. Players are also adopting strategic alliances by investing in new submarine cables to meet the growing demand. The telecom industry has been gearing for rolling out the 5G services with three providers starting field trials. The trend of sustainability has been gaining pace as tie-ups for green energy are being inked.