AirTrunk to invest $30 billion in India’s data centre expansion by 2030

Australian data centre operator AirTrunk will invest around US$30 billion in India by 2030, the company said on Friday, marking one of the largest proposed investments in the country’s digital infrastructure sector.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the company plans to develop five gigawatts of data centre capacity and will “strengthen India’s position as a global hub for cloud computing and AI, while generating employment opportunities”.

AirTrunk said its investment will “support digital infrastructure capacity” across “multiple” sites nationwide.

“India’s digital infrastructure journey is gathering remarkable momentum,” Modi said in a statement on social media.

“This is among the largest proposed investments in the country’s digital infrastructure ecosystem.”

India, which has more than a billion internet users, has attracted increasing investment as generative AI companies seek to expand in the world’s most populous country.

The country has seen a series of billion-dollar data centre announcements from global technology companies such as Google, alongside domestic firms including Reliance Industries.

AirTrunk chief executive Robin Khuda, who met Modi this week, said the company intends to “double down” on its existing commitments in India.

“India is taking a top-down approach to AI with clear government-led initiatives, a world-class talent pool and massive availability of renewable energy,” he said in a statement.

The company did not announce further details of the investment on Friday.

“Digital infrastructure is becoming as important to economic growth as roads, ports and power networks were in previous generations,” AirTrunk said.

Meanwhile, Devendra Fadnavis, chief minister of Maharashtra, India’s richest state, outlined plans for a proposed 3GW data centre at the Raigad Pen Growth Centre near Mumbai, the country’s financial capital.

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