AirTrunk commits $30B to build 5GW of AI data centers in India

Blackstone-backed information halfway relation AirTrunk said connected Thursday it would put $30 cardinal successful India by 2030, adding to a question of commitments from exertion and infrastructure groups seeking to grow computing capableness successful the country.

The Australian institution said it would make 5 gigawatts of caller information halfway capableness successful India, 1 of the largest commitments to the South Asian nation’s integer infrastructure sector. AirTrunk entered India earlier this twelvemonth done the acquisition of Lumina CloudInfra.

AirTrunk’s committedness underlines India’s increasing entreaty arsenic a destination for AI infrastructure, arsenic tech companies and investors question caller geographies to grow computing capacity. Data halfway capableness successful the state is projected to rise to arsenic overmuch arsenic 8GW by 2030 from astir 1.5GW today, according to probe steadfast Bernstein.

The Indian authorities has besides taken steps to pull concern successful AI infrastructure. Earlier this year, New Delhi offered overseas unreality providers tax exemptions done 2047 connected services sold overseas if those workloads are tally from Indian information centers.

AirTrunk has already begun laying the groundwork for its enlargement successful the country. Earlier this week, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said successful a station connected X that the occidental Indian authorities had exchanged a missive of intent for onshore allotment astatine the Raigad Pen Growth Center, wherever AirTrunk is readying a 3GW information halfway involving an concern of astir ₹2 trillion (around $21 billion). The institution already has a improvement pipeline of astir 600MW crossed Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad.

AirTrunk did not respond to questions connected whether the projected Raigad task would relationship for astir of the planned 5GW capacity, oregon whether it plans to marque further developments elsewhere successful India.

The announcement follows a gathering betwixt AirTrunk CEO Robin Khuda and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who said successful a station connected X that the planned concern would assistance fortify India’s presumption arsenic a planetary hub for unreality computing and artificial intelligence.

AirTrunk joins a increasing database of companies investing successful infrastructure successful the country. Amazon, Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Uber person announced large investments successful unreality and AI infrastructure, portion Indian companies Reliance Industries, Adani Group, and TCS person laid retired ambitious plans to grow information halfway capacity.

However, information centers necessitate immense amounts of electricity, h2o and land, and manufacture executives and analysts person pointed to assets issues arsenic a imaginable bottleneck, peculiarly regarding power.

Deloitte estimates information halfway build-outs successful the Asia Pacific could necessitate tens of terawatt-hours of further energy by the extremity of the decade.

AirTrunk’s concern thesis is underpinned by authorities support, a ample excavation of method talent, and entree to renewable energy, Khuda said.