Equinix, a leading global digital infrastructure company, has announced the opening of its first International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data center in Chennai, India—CN1. Located in Siruseri, Tamil Nadu, on a nearly six-acre plot of land, this new facility will be interconnected with Equinix’s Mumbai campus, which consists of three IBX data centers.
In a press release, the company revealed that with an initial investment of US$69 million, CN1 will provide 800 cabinets of capacity in its first phase. This facility will eventually support 4,250 cabinets. The location is approximately 28 kilometers away from the bustling Central Business District, holding a key position near anticipated submarine cable landing sites. CN1, a four-story facility, is AI-ready, purpose-built to accommodate advanced liquid cooling solutions, enabling support for high-density, compute-intensive workloads and ensuring scalable infrastructure for future AI and emerging technologies.
“We are delighted to announce the launch of our high-performance IBX data center, CN1, in Chennai, marking Equinix’s expansion in India and a pivotal step in advancing the nation’s digitalization journey,” said Manoj Paul, Managing Director, India, Equinix. “This milestone highlights our commitment to empowering India’s position as a global technology hub while ensuring sustainability and innovation remain at the core of our operations. With CN1’s cutting-edge capabilities, we look forward to enabling businesses in Chennai and across India to build future-ready, scalable digital infrastructure that supports sustainability to expand their business in Tamil Nadu and globally.”
Explaining why it chose Chennai, the company said, “As India strengthens its position as a key hub for innovation, research and AI investment, Chennai is emerging as the country’s focal point for this technological evolution, helping to pave the way for India to increase its global competitiveness in digital services and AI development.” It further said that with its strategic location, rapid cloud adoption and strong data sovereignty framework, India is becoming an essential market for global enterprises seeking to scale digital services and reduce latency for users across the region. The new facility will support local and global businesses by providing direct access to one of the world’s fastest-growing digital economies that is driving innovation and AI adoption.
Equinix currently works with more than 300 companies in India, including network service providers and five internet exchanges. Its Mumbai campus consists of three high-performance data centers and hosts a robust cloud ecosystem for customers in India, including native on-ramps to key cloud service providers, such as Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure and Oracle Cloud. With the launch of CN1, customers in Chennai can gain low-latency access to this key digital ecosystem, enabling seamless and secure connectivity with their business partners, customers and providers.
Globally, Equinix operates more than 270 data centers across 77 markets in 36 countries, serving over 10,000 customers and enabling their digital transformation. In the Asia-Pacific region, Equinix’s portfolio includes more than 60 data centers across key metros in Australia, China*, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, and Singapore, providing interconnection and digital infrastructure solutions to support the region’s dynamic economies.
*Equinix operates five data centers in Shanghai through a strategic partnership.