Kolkata-based power infrastructure firm Techno Electric & Engineering Company Ltd (TEECL) is looking to build 250 MW data centres across the country in the next five years.
Plans are also to extend its footprint in the data centre business to the APAC region.
TEECL has established a “detailed roadmap” for its data centre business leveraging on its EPC capabilities. It has already commenced the process of setting up its first IT load data centre of 30 MW in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, for an estimated investment of around ₹900 crores. This is expected to be commissioned in FY 2022-23, a Hindu Business Line report added.
It is also looking to set up a 20 MW edge data centre in Kolkata by FY23. This apart, it is planning a data centre at Hyderabad by FY24 and another one at Navi Mumbai by FY25, the company said in its latest annual report.
“During the year under review, we forayed into the data centre industry with a vision to contribute significantly to India’s emerging data centre industry.
As one of the world’s largest data subscriber population continues to adapt to a new digital life, India’s data centre demand is expected to grow exponentially. We intend to contribute to this industry through multiple ultra-scalable, hyper-density data centres,” the company said in the report.
The report further added that the data centre in Chennai would be powered by a captive wind energy source of 111.9 MW at Tamil Nadu. It would operate the non-IT portion of data centres by leveraging its experience of operating and maintaining other large infrastructure assets.
It also plans to utilise a cable landing station, which is under development by the Tamil Nadu government, for providing subsea broadband connectivity links with European and Asian markets (APAC Region). This apart, it plans to obtain certifications for data centres at Tier 3 and Tier 4 towns.
Following the pandemic, the country has witnessed a growth of over 30 per cent in internet usage consumption. Sectors such as banking, retail, e-commerce, manufacturing, and professional services, which are already the leading revenue contributors to the country’s server market, are expected to further boost the demand for increased access to internet-related services.
“India as a data centre market is booming. Investments are flowing in and are expected to reach $8 billion by 2026. The pandemic tremendously accelerated data consumption and as our reliance on digital technology grows in the post-Covid world, adoption of smart devices increases, the hunger for seamless cloud connectivity grows, there will be a surge in data storage and processing requirements together with the need for data security,” the report said.
In the month of July, the Tamil Nadu government had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Singapore-based CapitaLand and WebWerks for Rs 1,900 crore, to set up two data centres in Ambattur. The MoUs were signed at an investment conclave in the presence of Chief Minister MK Stalin.
The development comes as Guidance has signed MOUs with nine companies to set up data centres in Tamil Nadu with a proposed investment of Rs 16,927 crore and employment potential of over 9,000 jobs over two years.
Rise in DCs
India’s data centre industry is expected to double capacity by 2023, on the back of increased digitalisation, rising cloud adoption and ambitious growth plans of operators.
According to JLL’s ‘H1 2021 India Data Center Market Update’, the acceleration of digitalisation has forced enterprises to scale up their IT infrastructure. As a result of digital upgrades, strong demand for colocation or cloud facilities, across India.
Mumbai is expected to be the leading DC hub in the country, according to a report by JLL, Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated.
The report titled ‘2020 India Data Center Market Update’, Mumbai with 199 MW IT load is the leading data centre hub of the country with nine internet cable landing and assured power supply makes it a preferred location.
The city is expected to add 330 MW during 2021-23 and Navi Mumbai is expected to account for 83 per cent of capacity additions in Mumbai.
