India’s data centre market is moving from promise to performance, and CapitaLand Investment is positioning itself at the centre of this shift.
The Singapore-based real estate and infrastructure major is building its India data centre footprint of 245 MW across 4 major metro cities (Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore) with a commitment of approximately $1 billion, and subsequently plans to double the capacity to nearly 500 MW by the end of the decade- a move that underscores India’s emergence as one of the world’s fastest-growing digital infrastructure destinations.
“The company began acquiring land in mid-2021, during the COVID-19 period, and effectively started development in 2022. The current expansion pipeline, worth about $1 billion, is progressing in phases and is expected to be completed by 2027. We aim to almost double our footprint to nearly 500 MW by 2028-2030,” said Surajit Chatterjee, Managing Director and Head, Data Centre, India, CapitaLand Investment, in an exclusive interview with Moneycontrol recently.
The market has become very mature, and the company now have three-to-five-year visibility that allows us to plan capital and deployment efficiently.”
Chatterjee said that out of the upcoming capacity, 175–200 MW would be in Mumbai and 50–75 MW in Hyderabad. CapitaLand is also evaluating new corridors in Navi Mumbai and Hyderabad for future development, currently in the due diligence and planning stages.
Riding the hyperscaler wave
He said that India’s data economy is booming on the back of hyperscaler demand from global cloud service providers. These firms, which often require 100 MW or more at short notice, are driving a new scale of infrastructure investment.
“We’ve seen demand increase by 10–15 percent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) in both hyperscaler and enterprise segments,” he said. Around 70 percent of the company’s revenue in India comes from hyperscalers and 30 percent from large enterprises.
Chatterjee said that CapitaLand is currently developing 245 MW across four sites and plans to add another 250 MW by 2028–2030, primarily in Mumbai and Hyderabad, the country’s fastest-growing markets.
“Mumbai will happen first, followed by Hyderabad. We are building campus-style setups because hyperscalers today want multi-building complexes, not single towers,” he said.
Chatterjee said that the CapitaLand is not looking for any joint ventures to fuel its expansion plans.
“While several competitors have entered joint ventures — Brookfield with Digital Realty, Adani with H Connect, and Blackstone with Lumina— CapitaLand is steering clear of JVs. We do not need to do JVs. In every JV, one partner brings real estate and the other operations. CapitaLand has both capabilities in-house, which gives us speed and flexibility,” he said.
India emerges as Asia’s most cost-efficient data hub
Chatterjee said that before COVID-19, India’s total data centre capacity stood at about 350 MW. Today, it has jumped to 1.2 GW (Gigawatt), and by 2028, the industry capacity is projected to reach 3 GW, and by 2030, close to 5 GW.
“India’s data centre market has huge potential, but it needs investment, policy support, and execution discipline. India has the fundamentals — young demographics, high data consumption, abundant land, and renewable energy availability. Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) are manufacturing locally, which reduces import dependency. All of this makes India a strong data centre destination globally,” said Chatterjee.
He said that India’s competitive advantage lies not just in scale but also in cost efficiency. “The cost of construction here is still low (as compared to other markets), around $6.1–6.2 million per MW, including land and power,” he pointed out.
Chatterjee said that policy support, infrastructure readiness, and clear returns make India very investment friendly. “Nearly 90 percent of the private equity promised in the last 2-3 years has already been delivered,” he added.
That, he added, is drawing long-term institutional capital and accelerating project deliveries across major hubs.
Boost to real estate
The data centre boom is already redrafting the economics of India’s real estate market. “Land prices have jumped by 40 percent in the last two to three years,” said Chatterjee.
“The moment you say you’re building a data centre, the price goes up four times. Real estate margins that were earlier 12–18 percent are now around 25 percent,” he said.
He added that developers like Lodha and Hiranandani are adapting quickly, offering not only land but also core-and-shell infrastructure built to operator specifications — adding a new revenue layer to their portfolios.
Chatterjee said that the coming decade could define India’s position in the global data infrastructure map. As hyperscalers expand and investors chase sustainable returns, the data centre industry is set to become a pillar of India’s digital economy — and a major real estate value driver.
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