Equinix, one of the largest digital infrastructure companies in the world, has announced that it will set up its first International Business ExchangeTM (IBX®) data center in Chennai, India thus expanding its footprint in the South Asian data center hub. Called CN1, it will be built with an initial investment of US$ 65 Million.
According to a press release, CN1 will be spread over six acres and located in the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd. (SIPCOT) land in the Siruseri area, approximately 28 kilometers from the bustling Central Business District, holding a key position near to anticipated submarine cable landing sites. It is designed to support the needs of enterprises and hyperscalers, including AI deployments, and is expected to open in Q4 2024. CN1 will also be connected to Equinix’s three existing high performance data centers in Mumbai.
Explaining the rationale behind the decision, Manoj Paul, Managing Director, Equinix India, said, “We are witnessing India’s growing prominence as a pivotal data center hub in South Asia, driven by strong interest from major global players looking to anchor and expand their operations here, along with Indian enterprises expanding their digital infrastructure to support the growth of one of the fastest growing economies in the world.” He further said, “Equinix has the most hyperconnected data center campus in Mumbai with the largest concentration of cloud on-ramps, telecom service providers, Over-the-top (OTT) media service providers, internet exchanges and financial ecosystem. The addition of our Chennai data center will further extend this ecosystem to customers in Chennai.”
Chennai is the capital city of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu which has gained the reputation of being one of the most tech savvy states in India and dreams of becoming a trillion-dollar economy by 2030. Tamil Nadu has a clear data center policy, which has helped attract big names like AdaniConnex, CapitaLand, Colt DCS, CtrlS Datacenters, Digital Connexion, NTT, Nxtra by Airtel, Sify, STT GDC, and many others to the state. Ambattur and Siruseri have emerged as locations of choice for data centers in Chennai.
Research by W.Media has revealed that while India is growing fast in terms of digital, Tamil Nadu is growing faster. “The recency of growth means Chennai is emerging as a ‘next-gen’ market with a stronger investment emphasis than the nation overall on cloud as well as data centres and interest also in upcoming and evolving technologies including renewable sources of power, edge computing and AI-driven cooling,” says Nick Parfitt, who handles Research, Content and Production at W.Media. Parfitt helmed W.Media’s research into the Indian datacenter market. The survey received 400 responses out of which 60 were from Tamil Nadu.
Acknowledging the state government’s support, Paul further said, “We are grateful for the support we have received from the Industries and IT Department, Government of Tamil Nadu; SIPCOT; and Guidance Tamil Nadu, which have facilitated our entry into the Chennai market.”
Equinix’s facilities in India, including the upcoming facilities in Chennai and Mumbai, CN1 and MB3, aim to be 100 percent covered by renewables, as the company wants to achieve climate neutrality by 2030. Globally, Equinix operates 260 data centers across 71 metros in 33 countries, providing digital infrastructure for more than 10,000 of the world’s leading businesses. In Asia-Pacific, Equinix currently has 56 data centers in key metros across Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore.
