New Delhi, Sep 16 (IANS) India’s top seven data centre markets added 178 MW of new capacity during H1 2026, taking total operational capacity to 1,789 MW, a report said on Wednesday.
The market is expected to receive another 3,860 MW of supply by 2030, comprising 509 MW under construction and 3,351 MW in the planning stage, underscoring strong long-term confidence in the country’s digital infrastructure growth story, the report from Cushman & Wakefield said.
India’s data centre sector continues to witness strong growth momentum due to hyperscale cloud adoption, artificial intelligence (AI) deployments and enterprise digital transformation, it added.
Moreover, the sector’s footprint now spans 147 data centres operated by 33 providers across the country’s leading markets, reflecting the increasing scale and maturity of India’s digital infrastructure ecosystem.
However, India is projected to require $29.9 billion in development capital through 2030, ranking among APAC’s largest data centre investment markets.
It remains one of the region’s most underpenetrated digital infrastructure markets with approximately 825,333 people per MW of operational capacity, indicating substantial headroom for future expansion.
Despite continued supply additions, colocation vacancy stood at 14.9 per cent as of H1 2026 which indicates the market’s ability to absorb new capacity while supporting future expansion.
Meanwhile, the Asia Pacific region’s data centre capacity is projected to increase 2.7-fold in total capacity by 2030, outpacing the Americas (2.6-fold) and EMEA (2.3-fold), driven by 26,455 megawatts (MW) in its development pipeline against 15,135 MW of current operational capacity.
The report estimated that APAC’s data centre sector will require over $280 billion in capital expenditure through 2030, supporting operational asset values expected to exceed $950 billion by the end of the decade.
Nearly 77 per cent of APAC’s projected capital expenditure through 2030 is expected to be deployed across Japan, Malaysia, Australia, India and Indonesia, representing approximately $215 billion in investment opportunities.
Mumbai continues to anchor India’s data centre ecosystem with 890 MW of operational capacity and the country’s largest upcoming supply pipeline of 1,726 MW, supported by strong digital infrastructure, power availability and extensive connectivity.
“With nearly 3.9 GW of additional capacity expected across the country’s leading markets by 2030, this deeper ecosystem will be critical in supporting the next phase of cloud adoption, AI deployment and data-driven growth across the economy,” said Gautam Saraf, Executive Managing Director, Mumbai & New Business, Cushman & Wakefield.
—IANS
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