Kotak Data Center Fund (KDCF) has announced an investment worth Rs 600 crores into Sify Infinity Services Ltd (SISL), which is the data center business of Sify Technologies. The fresh infusion of funds will be used to expand SISL’s data center capacity across India, and also as an investment in renewable energy.
SISL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sify Technologies Ltd., while KDFC is managed by Kotal Alternate Asset Managers Ltd (KotalAlt). This latest round of investments is part of KotakAlt’s total equity commitment of Rs 1,600 crores in SISL. Of this, Rs 1,000 crores has been invested so far, including the latest investment of Rs 600 crores.
Speaking on the occasion, Srini Sriniwasan, Managing Director, Kotak Alternate Asset Managers, said, “We believe that with vibrant entrepreneurship in the digital space, rich media consumption by an exploding well-connected population and increasing requirements for local storage of data, India’s Data Center sector is a long-term secular opportunity.”
MP Vijay Kumar, Executive Director and Group CFO, Sify said, “This partnership gives us the needful equity to scale up our Data Center footprint and realize our opportunities faster. Our intent is to build capacity in sync with customer demand, in the most modular design and by deploying the latest and most cost-effective technologies.”
Sify has a total of 11 data centers located in NOIDA, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata, and Chennai. They serve a wide variety of customers hailing from sectors as diverse as banking, healthcare, social media, FMCG and OTT. While the current capacity stands at 100 MW, it is on track to increase it by 350 MW by 2025. Sify also aims to eventually use at least 200 MW of green energy.
KDFC’s investment is in the form of compulsory convertible debentures, which will be converted into equity based on operational performance of SISL over a specified reference period.