New Delhi, May 24 (FN Agency) India’s data centre boom could drive a demand for 10 million square feet of real estate space attracting investments worth US$ 5.7 billion by 2026, property consultant JLL said in a report on Friday. As per the consulting firm, data centre (DC) industry in India is set to witness remarkable growth, with projections of adding 791 MW capacity by 2026. The surge is primarily fuelled by the increasing adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
As usage of AI gains pace, the demand for Indian DCs is expected to be in the range of 650-800 MW during 2024-26,” JLL said in a media release. The exponential growth in computing power and the resulting new applications are expected to drive strong demand for the DC industry over the medium term. The JLL report noted that Cloud Service Providers (CSPs), who essentially offer IT infrastructure systems primarily for data storage and computing power accessible through the internet, have realigned their requirements to factor in AI-led demand. It further said that CSPs have also announced higher investments to scale up AI-led growth. “The exponential growth in processing power and data volumes, driven by AI, necessitates the development of new data centres capable of meeting energy, processing, and cooling needs.
The anticipated expansion and progression of diverse AI disciplines are projected to create additional demand for data centres, expanding their capacity requirements and advancing their capabilities” said Rachit Mohan, APAC Lead – Data Centre Leasing and Head – Data Centre Advisory, India, JLL. Samantak Das, Chief Economist and Head of Research & REIS, India, JLL said that India is poised to be the third-largest economy, with digital economy contributing around 20% to the total projected GDP size of US$5 trillion by 2027. “This digital expansion is anticipated to propel the growth of India’s data centre industry, projected to increase from 853 MW in 2023 to 1,645 MW by 2026. This increase in capacity will require an investment of USD 5.7 billion and approximately 10 million square feet of real estate,” he said.