A half billion digital users, coupled with hybrid multicloud adoption, are driving an exponential growth in the demand for digital infrastructure in India. Equinix has announced an investment of over US$9 million to acquire a parcel of land in Chennai on a long-term leasehold basis as part of its expansion and growth strategy in India.
According to a Nasscom report, over 80 third-party data centers are currently in operation in India, and investments from both local and international players are expected to reach US$4.6 billion per year by 2025. With a strategic location, access to subsea cable landing stations, stable power supply and thriving IT infrastructure, Chennai is steadily emerging as a data centre hub, and has made it to the top ten markets to watch in the world, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s 2021 Global Data Center Market Comparison report.
The parcel of land is located in the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd (SIPCOT) IT Park, providing a total space of more than 5.5 acres. It is strategically located in the Siruseri area, which is known as the IT Corridor of Chennai, with large and upcoming IT parks and well-established telecom networks.
Manoj Paul, Managing Director, Equinix India commented: “With the infrastructure status for data centers recently announced by the Indian government, India is well positioned to grow as one of the most important data center hubs in South Asia. There is a lot of momentum and interest from large global players to establish and expand their footprint in India. Many of our customers are keen to expand beyond Mumbai, and Chennai is often their next requested destination.
Thanks to the Industries Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, SIPCOT and Guidance Tamil Nadu for their support of Equinix’s growth into Chennai. At Equinix we are focused on enabling digital business in the locations our customers request.”
In 2021, Equinix entered India through the acquisition of two data centers in Mumbai, named MB1 and MB2. The two data centers in Mumbai are home to the digital infrastructure of numerous global organizations and provide a total of 1,350 cabinets.
Equinix also launched a Global Center of Excellence (GCoE) in India, which will provide customers and employees with innovative and automated digital technologies to improve the resilience of their digital infrastructures.
Globally, Equinix operates 240 International Business Exchange (IBX®) data centers across 66 metros, providing digital infrastructure for more than 10,000 of the world’s leading businesses. In Asia-Pacific, Equinix currently has 52 IBX data centers in key metros across Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea and Singapore.